Cocrystals Strategy towards Materials for Near‐Infrared Photothermal Conversion and Imaging

A cocrystal strategy with a simple preparation process is developed to prepare novel materials for near‐infrared photothermal (PT) conversion and imaging. DBTTF and TCNB are selected as electron donor (D) and electron acceptor (A) to self‐assemble into new cocrystals through non‐covalent interactions. The strong D–A interaction leads to a narrow band gap with NIR absorption and that both the ground state and lowest‐lying excited state are charge transfer states. Under the NIR laser illumination, the temperature of the cocrystal sharply increases in a short time with high PT conversion efficiency (η=18.8 %), which is due to the active non‐radiative pathways and inhibition of radiative transition process, as revealed by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. This is the first PT conversion cocrystal, which not only provides insights for the development of novel PT materials, but also paves the way of designing functional materials with appealing applications.     

Manipulating Host-Guest Charge Transfer of a Water-Soluble Double-Cavity Cyclophane for NIR-II Photothermal Therapy

Water-soluble small organic photothermal agents (PTAs) over NIR-II biowindow (1000–1350 nm) are highly desirable, but the rarity greatly limits their applications. Based on a water-soluble double-cavity cyclophane GBox-4⁴⁺ , we report a class of host–guest charge transfer (CT) complexes as structurally uniform PTAs for NIR-II photothermal therapy. As a result of its high electron-deficiency, GBox-4⁴⁺ can bind different electron-rich planar guests with a 1 : 2 host/guest stoichiometry to readily tune the CT absorption band that extends to the NIR-II region. When using a diaminofluorene guest substituted with an oligoethylene glycol chain, the host–guest system realized both good biocompatibility and enhanced photothermal conversion at 1064 nm, and was then exploited as a high-efficiency NIR-II PTA for cancer cell and bacterial ablation. This work broadens the potential applications of host–guest cyclophane systems and provides a new access to bio-friendly NIR-II photoabsorbers with well-defined structures.     

Mechanically Strong,Liquid-Resistant Photothermal Bioplastic Constructed from Cellulose and Metal-Organic Framework for Light-Driven Mechanical Motion

The development of photothermal materials with a high light-to-heat conversion capability is essential for the utilization of clean solar energy. In this work, we demonstrate the use of a novel and sustainable concept involving cellulose liquefaction, rapid gelation, in situ synthesis and hot-press drying to convert cellulose and metal–organic framework (Prussian blue) into a stable photothermal bioplastic that can harvest sunlight and convert it into mechanical motion. As expected, the obtained Prussian blue@cellulose bioplastic (PCBP) can effectively absorb sunlight and the surface can be heated up to 70.3 °C under one sun irradiation (100 mW cm⁻²). As a demonstration of the practicality of PCBP, it was successfully used to drive a Stirling engine motion. Meanwhile, hot-pressing promotes the densification of the structure of PCBP and, therefore, improves the resistance to the penetration of water/non-aqueous liquids. Moreover, PCBP shows good mechanical properties and thermal stability. Given the excellent photothermal performance and environmentally friendly features of photothermal conversion bioplastic, we envisage this sustainable plastic film could play important roles toward diversified applications: a photothermal layer for thermoelectric generator, agricultural films for soil mulching and photothermal antibacterial activity, among others.     

Photoinduced Betaine Generation for Efficient Photothermal Energy Conversion

The conversion of solar energy to thermal, chemical, or electrical energy attracts great attention in chemistry and physics. There has been a considerable effort for the efficient extraction of photons throughout the entire solar spectrum. In this work light energy was efficiently harvested by using a long-lived betaine photogenerated from an acridinium-based electron donor–acceptor dyad. The photothermal energy-conversion efficiency of the dyad is significantly enhanced by simultaneous illumination with blue (420–440 nm) and yellow (>480 nm) light in comparison with the sum of the conversion efficiencies for individual illumination with blue or yellow light. The enhanced photothermal effect is due to the photogenerated betaine, which absorbs longer-wavelength light than the dyad, and thus the dyad–betaine combination is promising for efficient photothermal energy conversion. The mechanisms of betaine generation and energy conversion are discussed on the basis of steady-state and transient spectral measurements.     

金属-有机框架作为超级电容器电极材料研究的综合性实验设计

介绍了一个综合性实验——金属-有机框架作为超级电容器电极材料的研究。实验内容包括金属有机框架的制备、单晶结构表征与电化学性能测试等主要内容。学生通过具体实验操作、电化学工作站使用、结构分析及数据处理等步骤，可充分了解目前热门的前沿领域，也可以对实验内容涉及的知识体系进行学习、归纳。本实验综合了无机化学、分析化学和物理化学的相关知识点与实验操作，可作为高年级学生开放实验进行开设。     

Ag@TiO2 Nanoprisms with Highly Efficient Near‐Infrared Photothermal Conversion for Melanoma Therapy

Melanoma is a primary reason of death from skin cancer and associated with high lethality. Photothermal therapy (PTT) has been developed into a powerful cancer treatment technique in recent years. Here, we created a low‐cost and high‐performance PTT agent, Ag@TiO₂ NPs, which possesses a high photothermal conversion efficiency of ≈65 % and strong near‐infrared (NIR) absorption about 808 nm. Ag NPs were synthesized using a two‐step method and coated with TiO₂ to obtain Ag@TiO₂ NPs by a facile sol‐gel method. Because of the oxide, Ag@TiO₂ NPs exhibit remarkable high photothermal conversion efficiencies and biocompatibility in vivo and in vitro. Cytotoxicity and therapeutic efficiency of photothermal cytotoxicity of Ag@TiO₂ NPs were tested in B16‐F10 cells and C57BL/6J mice. Under light irradiation, the elevated temperature causes cell death in Ag NPs‐treated (100 μg mL^?1) cells in vitro (both p<0.01). In the case of subcutaneous melanoma tumor model, Ag@TiO₂ NPs (100 μg mL^?1) were injected into the tumor and irradiated with a 808 nm laser of 2 W cm^?2 for 1 minute. As a consequence, the tumor volume gradually decreased by NIR laser irradiation with only a single treatment. The results demonstrate that Ag@TiO₂ NPs are biocompatible and an attractive photothermal agent for cutaneous melanoma by local delivery.     

A Mechanistic Study of Asymmetric Transfer Hydrogenation of Imines on a Chiral Phosphoric Acid Derived Indium Metal-Organic Framework

A density functional theory (DFT) study is reported to examine the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) of imines catalyzed by an indium metal-organic framework (In-MOF) derived from a chiral phosphoric acid (CPA). It is revealed that the imine and reducing agent (i.e., thiazoline) are simultaneously adsorbed on the CPA through H-bonding to form an intermediate, subsequently, a proton is transferred from thiazoline to imine. The transition state TS-R and TS-S are stabilized on the CPA via H-bonding. Compared to the TS-S, the TS-R has shorter H-bonding distances and longer C-H···π distances, it is more stable and experiences less steric hindrance. Consequently, the TS-R exhibits a lower activation barrier affording to the (R)-enantiomer within 68.1% ee in toluene. Imines with substituted groups such as −NO₂, −F, and −OCH₃ are used to investigate the substitution effects on the ATH. In the presence of an electron-withdrawing group like −NO₂, the electrophilicity of imine is enhanced and the activation barrier is decreased. The non-covalent interactions and activation-strain model (ASM) analysis reveal that the structural distortions and the differential noncovalent interactions of TSs in a rigid In-MOF provide the inherent driving force for enantioselectivity. For −OCH₃ substituted imine, the TS-S has the strongest steric hindrance, leading to the highest enantioselectivity. When the solvent is changed from toluene to dichloromethane, acetonitrile, and dimethylsulfoxide with increasing polarity, the activation energies of transition state increase whereas their difference decreases. This implies the reaction is slowed down and the enantioselectivity becomes lower in a solvent of smaller polarity. Among the four solvents, toluene turns out to be the best for the ATH. The calculated results in this study are in fairly good agreement with experimental observations. This study provides a mechanistic understanding of the reaction mechanism, as well as substitution and solvent effects on the activity and enantioselectivity of the ATH. The microscopic insights are useful for the development of new chiral MOFs toward important asymmetric reactions.     

Molecular-level Manipulation of Interface Charge Transfer on Plasmonic Metal/MOF Heterostructures

Plasmon-excited hot carriers have drawn great attention for driving various chemical reactions, but the short lifetimes of hot carriers seriously restrict the performance of plasmonic photocatalysis. Constructing plasmonic metal/metal-organic framework (MOF) heterostructures has been proved as an effective strategy to extend the lifetimes of hot carriers. Due to the high molecular tunability of MOFs, the MOF substrate in plasmonic metal/MOF heterostructures is able to capture hot electrons on the conduction band of MOF and hot holes on its valence band, and thus offers an ideal platform to separately study the detailed mechanism of hot electron and hole transfer processes. This review focuses on a molecular-level understanding of both hot-electron and hot-hole transfer at plasmonic metal/MOF interfaces. The enhanced stability and photocatalytic performance by introducing MOF substrates are discussed for plasmonic metal/MOF heterostructures. Additionally, typical characterization technologies are also proposed as powerful tools for tracking hot carrier transfer process.     

In Situ Observation of Hot Carrier Transfer at Plasmonic Au/Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) Interfaces

Constructing heterostructures have been demonstrated as an ideal strategy for boosting charge separation on plasmonic photocatalysts, but the detailed interface charge transfer mechanism remains elusive. Herein, that authors fabricate plasmonic Au and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs, NH₂−MIL-125 and MIL-125 used in this work) heterostructures and explore the interface charge transfer mechanism by in situ electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and electrochemical measurements. The plasmon-excited hot electrons on Au can transfer across the Au/MOF interface and be captured by the coordinatively unsaturated sites of secondary building units (Ti₈O₈(OH)₄ cluster) of the MOF structure, and the plasmon-excited hot holes on Au tend to transfer to and be trapped at the functionalized organic ligand (1,4-benzenedicarboxylate−NH₂). The spatially separated hot electrons and holes exhibit boosted the photocatalytic activity for chromium (VI) reduction and selective benzyl alcohol oxidation. This work illustrates the advantage of the versatile functionalization of MOF structures enabling molecular-level manipulation of interface charge transfer on plasmonic photocatalysts.     

Light Induced Electron Transfer and Charge Separation of Porphyrin Compounds for Photoelectric Conversion

A series of artificial photosynthesis porphyrin compounds consisting of electron donor and electron acceptor (compounds 1-6) were synthesized. Their spectroscopic behaviors in solution were investigated and the synthetic molecular devices were prepared with these molecules by using LB technique. It was indicated that multistep electron transfer and charge separation for these compounds actually occur, which is of great advantage to their photoelectric conversion. An efficient energy transfer process takes place for compound 6. A mechanism involving photoinduced electron transfer and multistep charge separation for these compounds was suggested. With only one monolayer of tetrad 1 LB film on the surface of Sn0₂ conductive glass, high photo-driven voltage and current were obtained.     

面向乙烷/乙烯分离的金属有机框架膜的大规模计算筛选

相比于传统热驱动的低温蒸馏工艺, 基于金属有机框架(Metal-organic frameworks, MOFs)的膜分离是一种在技术和成本上可行的乙烷/乙烯分离替代方案. 为了加速MOF膜在这一气体分离领域中的应用, 本工作提出了两步筛选策略对12,020个真实MOF膜材料进行了大规模计算筛选, 其中MISQIQ04表现出最高的乙烷/乙烯膜选择系数(4.16)和较高的乙烷渗透率(4.35×10⁵ Barrer). 通过结构-性能关系分析, 可以发现窄孔径和低孔隙率的MOFs是选择性分离乙烷的最佳膜材料, 并且乙烷的选择性吸附对乙烷/乙烯膜分离过程起着主导作用. 与传统计算筛选方法相比, 本工作所提出的筛选策略降低了约87.1%的计算时间成本. 为了进一步缩短模拟时间, 本工作还开发了机器学习分类模型以实现对高性能MOF膜的快速预筛选并探讨了该模型的可移植性. 结果表明, 增加数据集的多样性有助于提高所开发模型的可移植性和泛化能力.     

芳基四硫富瓦烯与溴化铜电荷转移复合物的合成及晶体结构

采用溶液扩散的方法合成了硫原子桥联芳基取代四硫富瓦烯1～4与CuBr₂的4种电荷转移复合物(1^+·)(Cu₂Br₆)_0.5、(2^+·)(Cu₂Br₆)_0.5、(3^+·)(Cu₂Br₆)_0.5和(4^+·)(CuBr₂)。晶体结构研究表明,复合物中阴离子呈现2种构型：八面体型(Cu₂^ⅡBr₆)^2-和直线型(Cu^ⅠBr₂)^-,并且4种复合物呈现不同的堆积结构。通过调控芳基上卤素原子取代位置和大小,实现了对电荷转移复合物堆积结构和阴离子构型的有效调控。     

Engineering Platinum–Oxygen Dual Catalytic Sites via Charge Transfer towards Highly Efficient Hydrogen Evolution

A dual‐site catalyst allows for a synergetic reaction in the close proximity to enhance catalysis. It is highly desirable to create dual‐site interfaces in single‐atom system to maximize the effect. Herein, we report a cation‐deficient electrostatic anchorage route to fabricate an atomically dispersed platinum–titania catalyst (Pt₁^O1/Ti_1?xO₂), which shows greatly enhanced hydrogen evolution activity, surpassing that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst in mass by a factor of 53.2. Operando techniques and density functional calculations reveal that Pt₁^O1/Ti_1?xO₂ experiences a Pt?O dual‐site catalytic pathway, where the inherent charge transfer within the dual sites encourages the jointly coupling protons and plays the key role during the Volmer–Tafel process. There is almost no decay in the activity of Pt₁^O1/Ti_1?xO₂ over 300 000 cycles, meaning 30 times of enhancement in stability compared to the commercial Pt/C catalysts (10 000 cycles).     

The Selective CO2 Adsorption and Photothermal Conversion Study of an Azo-Based Cobalt-MOF Material

A new metal–organic framework (MOF), [Co₂(L)₂(azpy)]_n (compound 1, H₂L = 5-(pyridin-4-ylmethoxy)-isophthalic acid, azpy = 4,4′-azopyridine), was synthesized by a solvothermal method and further characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectra, thermogravimetric analysis, single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction. The X-ray single-crystal diffraction analysis for compound 1 indicated that two cis L2²⁻ ligands connected to two cobalt atoms resulted in a macrocycle structure. Through a series of adsorption tests, we found that compound 1 exhibited a high capacity of CO₂, and the adsorption capacity could reach 30.04 cm³/g. More interestingly, under 273 K conditions, the adsorption of CO₂ was 41.33 cm³/g. In addition, when the Co-MOF was irradiated by a 730 nm laser, rapid temperature increases for compound 1 were observed (temperature variation in 169 s: 26.6 °C), showing an obvious photothermal conversion performance. The photothermal conversion efficiency reached 20.3%, which might be due to the fact that the parallel arrangement of azo units inhibited non-radiative transition and promoted photothermal conversion. The study provides an efficient strategy for designing MOFs for the adsorption of CO₂ and with good photothermal conversion performance.     

基于H3PW12O40·xH2O和3，5-二氨基-1，2，4-三氮唑的POMOF的合成、表征及催化氧化碘离子性能

采用水热法合成了一例结构新颖且罕见的Keggin型多金属氧酸盐基金属有机骨架化合物,即[Cu₄（3,5-datrz）₄][PW^Ⅵ₉W^Ⅴ₃O₃₉]·H₂O （1）,其中3,5-datrz=3,5-二氨基-1,2,4-三氮唑,并通过单晶X射线衍射、傅里叶变换红外光谱、热重分析、粉末X射线衍射和元素分析进行了表征。单晶X射线衍射分析表明：化合物1属于单斜晶系,空间群为C2/c,不对称结构包含2个Cu⁺、2个3,5-datrz配体、0.5个Keggin型磷钨酸阴离子和1个水分子,除结晶水外各组分之间通过共价键连接成Keggin型多金属氧酸盐基金属有机骨架化合物。以化合物1为非均相催化剂,在温度为55℃时催化H₂O₂氧化碘离子反应。结果表明,1催化下的碘单质生成速率为6.11×10^-7 mol·L^-1·s^-1,且重复使用次数达到6次时转化率仍能高达99.6%。     

Phenanthrene-Fused-Quinoxaline as a Key Building Block for Highly Efficient and Stable Sensitizers in Copper-Electrolyte-Based Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on Cu^II/I bipyridyl or phenanthroline complexes as redox shuttles have achieved very high open-circuit voltages (V_OC, more than 1 V). However, their short-circuit photocurrent density (J_SC) has remained modest. Increasing the J_SC is expected to extend the spectral response of sensitizers to the red or NIR region while maintaining efficient electron injection in the mesoscopic TiO₂ film and fast regeneration by the Cu^I complex. Herein, we report two new D-A-π-A-featured sensitizers termed HY63 and HY64 , which employ benzothiadiazole (BT) or phenanthrene-fused-quinoxaline (PFQ), respectively, as the auxiliary electron-withdrawing acceptor moiety. Despite their very similar energy levels and absorption onsets, HY64 -based DSSCs outperform their HY63 counterparts, achieving a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.5 %. PFQ is superior to BT in reducing charge recombination resulting in the near-quantitative collection of photogenerated charge carriers.     

Pd Nanocubes@ZIF‐8: Integration of Plasmon‐Driven Photothermal Conversion with a Metal–Organic Framework for Efficient and Selective Catalysis

Composite nanomaterials usually possess synergetic properties resulting from the respective components and can be used for a wide range of applications. In this work, a Pd nanocubes@ZIF‐8 composite material has been rationally fabricated by encapsulation of the Pd nanocubes in ZIF‐8, a common metal–organic framework (MOF). This composite was used for the efficient and selective catalytic hydrogenation of olefins at room temperature under 1 atm H₂ and light irradiation, and benefits from plasmonic photothermal effects of the Pd nanocube cores while the ZIF‐8 shell plays multiple roles; it accelerates the reaction by H₂ enrichment, acts as a “molecular sieve” for olefins with specific sizes, and stabilizes the Pd cores. Remarkably, the catalytic efficiency of a reaction under 60 mW cm^?2 full‐spectrum or 100 mW cm^?2 visible‐light irradiation at room temperature turned out to be comparable to that of a process driven by heating at 50 °C. Furthermore, the catalyst remained stable and could be easily recycled. To the best of our knowledge, this work represents the first combination of the photothermal effects of metal nanocrystals with the favorable properties of MOFs for efficient and selective catalysis.     

己二胺-12-钼磷酸电荷转移盐的光化学合成与晶体结构

采用光化学法合成一种有机-无机电荷转移盐，（HMDH2）[H2PMo12O40]·AA·3H2O·DMF（HMD = 1,6-己二胺，AA = 乙醛，DMF = N,N-二甲基甲酰胺）超分子化合物。用元素分析，IR，固体漫反射电子光谱，ESR进行了表征。X-射线四圆衍射测定其晶体结构属三斜晶系，空间群Pī，Mr=2081.68，晶胞参数a = 14.092(3)，b =14.347(3)，c =14.358(3)?，α=75.10(3)，β=80.70(3)，γ=80.73(3)°,V=2746.6(10)?3，Z=2，Dc=2.517g/cm3，F(000)=1970，μ(MoKα)=2.766mm-1，全矩阵最小二乘法修正至R=0.0832，wR=0.2638。标题化合物是由1个质子化的1,6-己二胺、12-钼磷混合价杂多阴离子[PMo12O40]4ˉ、3个水分子、2个乙醛分子和1个二甲基甲酰胺分子构成。     

一个三羧酸配体构筑的铽金属-有机框架材料及对小分子溶剂的荧光识别

以3-羟基-5-(3,5-二甲酸-苯氧基)苯甲酸(H_3L)为配体,在溶剂热条件下与硝酸铽反应得到1个具有二维平面结构的镧系金属-有机框架材料(Tb-MOF):{[TbL(H_2O)]·3H_2O·DMF}n。单晶X射线衍射分析表明,Tb-MOF为正交晶系Ibca空间群。2个Tb(Ⅲ)离子通过6个羧基桥联形成双核[Ln_2(COO)_6]次级结构单元,晶体由[Ln_2(COO)_6]次级结构单元相互连接形成具有左手或右手螺旋结构的一维无机链,左手螺旋链与右手螺旋链通过配体L~(3-)相连形成二维层状结构。有机小分子溶剂交换荧光研究表明,TbMOF在硝基苯溶剂中表现出荧光猝灭现象,Tb-MOF材料对硝基苯等爆炸物具有潜在良好的荧光探测功能。