The first systhesis of a chromia-pillared layered niobate with porosity, acidity and high thermostability

Although the hydrated niobic acid is an unusual solid acid and making an impact onits application in catalysis, it is usually nonporous and has a rather low surface area andweak acidity upon heat treatment. To overcome these shortcomings, the layered nio-bate had been pillared with thermostable inorganic oxides such as alumina and silica.Chromia is also a suitable inorganic oxide which can be used as pillar and contributesnew properties to the resultant materials. Here, we report the first synthesis of achromia-pillared layered niobate with porosity, acidity and thermostability.     

Is Chromatography a Science, a Process, a Method, or a Scientific Discipline?

In the controversy over an article entitled Chromatography as a Scientific Discipline by V.G. Berezkin, it was pointed out that the subdivision of chromatographic processes into sorption–sieve chromatography and field nonsorption chromatography is inadmissible. It was demonstrated that all chromatographic processes, including flow fractionation in a transverse force field, are in principle two-phase (or polyphase) processes. It was illustrated that a longitudinal field in a flow cannot introduce a chromatographic component into the system. An additional definition of chromatography as a phenomenon was proposed on the basis of key points revealed by Professor Berezkin.     

Synthesis of a novel tri-antennary galactoside with high hepatocyte targeting

A novel bifunctional compound carrying cluster thiogalactoside as the cell targeting ligands was synthesized for gene delivery to hepatocytes. Tetra-antennary dendr-OMs4 5 was used as a scaffold for the attachment of three galactosides, while the other mesylate end was linked with cholesterol through poly(ethylene glycol) chain. This design provided an effective entry for the synthesis of the bifunctional compound.     

Copper fluoride as a low-cost sodium-ion battery cathode with high capacity

Sodium-ion batteries（SIBs） are promising alternatives to lithium-ion batteries（LIBs） for large-scale energy storage considering the abundance and low cost of Na-containing resources. However, the energy density of SIBs has been limited by the typically low specific capacities of traditional intercalation-based cathodes. Metal fluorides, in contrast, can deliver much higher capacities based on multi-electron conversion reactions. Among metal fluorides, CuF₂ presents a theoretical speci...     

Does a high UV environment ensure adequate vitamin D status?

This study assesses the Vitamin D status of 126 healthy free-living adults aged 18-87 years, in southeast Queensland, Australia (27 degrees S) at the end of the 2006 winter. Participants provided blood samples for analysis of 25(OH)D (the measure of an individual's Vitamin D status), PTH, Calcium, Phosphate, and Albumin, completed a questionnaire on sun-protective/sun-exposure behaviours, and were assessed for phenotypic characteristics such as skin/hair/eye colour and BMI. We found that 10.2% of the participants had serum 25(OH)D levels below 25 nmol/l (considered deficient) and a further 32.3% had levels between 25 nmol/l and 50 nmol/l (considered insufficient). Our results show that low levels of 25(OH)D can occur in a substantial proportion of the population at the end of winter, even in a sunny climate. 25(OH)D levels were higher amongst those who spent more time in the sun and lower among obese participants (BMI>30) than those who were not obese (BMI<30). 25(OH)D levels were also lower in participants who had black hair, dark/olive skin, or brown eyes, when compared with participants who had brown or fair hair, fair skin, or blue/green eyes. No associations were found between 25(OH)D status and age, gender, smoking status, or the use of sunscreen.     

Synthesis of a novel multivalent galactoside with high hepatocyte targeting for gene delivery

A novel bifunctional glycolipid which carded a cluster of thiogalactosides as the hepatocyte targeting ligand for gene delivery was prepared. Hexa-antennary alcohol 1 was used as the core scaffold to attach a cholesterol molecule by a poly（ethylene glycol） chain, while its remaining branches were linked with five acetylgalactosides, which would be deacetylated later to produce pentaantennary galactoside. Liposome containing the galactoside showed high affinity and transfection activity in hepatoma cells HepG2.     

a,a,a,b-ZnT(o-BocThr)APP对咪唑衍生物和氨基酸酯的分子识别研究

Molecular Recognition of α,α,α,β-ZnT（o-BocThr）APP （1） toward a series of imidazole derivatives and amino acid esters was investigated. Association constants were determined in chloroform by means of UV-Vis titration method. The association constants of 1 with imidazole derivatives are larger than those of 1 with amino acid esters. 1H NMR spectra were investigated to describe the binding mode of the recognition system, showing that all the protons of the guests were shifted to upfield. The circular dichroism spectra of 1-L-/D-ValOMe showed a split cotton effect in Soret region, while those of 1-L-/D-PheOMe showed no split cotton effect. Molecular modeling was performed to understand chiral recognition on a molecular level. Quantum chemical calculation was carried out based on the stable conformations of these recognition systems, which gave a reasonable explanation for the behavior of molecular recognition. The results indicated that the conformation of 1-D-ValOMe was more stable than that of 1-L-ValOMe.     

An activated carbon with high capacitance from carbonization of a resorcinol–formaldehyde resin

A polymeric activated carbon (PAC) was synthesized from the carbonization of a resorcinol–formaldehyde resin with KOH served as an activation agent. The nitrogen adsorption–desorption at 77 K, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to characterize the prepared PAC. Compared with the commercial activated carbon (Maxsorb: Kansai, Japan), PAC shows superior capacitive performance in terms of specific capacitance, power output and high energy density as electrode materials for supercapacitors. PAC presents a high specific capacitance of 500 F g^?1 in 6 mol l^?1 KOH electrolyte at a current density of 233 mA g^?1 which remained 302 F g^?1 even at a high current density of 4.6 A g^?1. The good electrochemical performance of the PAC was ascribed to well-developed micropores smaller than 1.5 nm, the presence of electrochemically oxygen functional groups and low equivalent series resistance.     

Rapid (∼10 min) synthesis of single-crystalline, nanorice TiO2 mesoparticles with a high photovoltaic efficiency of above 8%

A novel rapid (～10 min) microwave-hydrothermal synthesis is demonstrated for nanorice TiO(2) mesoparticles as an anode of a dye-sensitized solar cell with an excellent photovoltaic efficiency of above 8%.     

Hydroacridines XXI [1]. 13C NMR Spectroscopic Investigation of the Stereoselectivities of Quaternizations of N-Alkyl Derivatives of (4aα,8aβ,9aβ,10aα)- and (4aα,8aα,9aβ,10aα)-Tetradecahydroacridine

Summary.  The stereoselectivities of the quaternization reactions of (4aα,8aβ,9aβ,10aα)- and (4aα,8aα,9aβ,10aα)-tetradecahydro-10-methylacridine with methyl- and ethyl iodide as well as those of (4aα,8aβ,9aβ,10aα)- and (4aα,8aα,9aβ,10aα)-10-ethyl-tetradecahydroacridine with methyl iodide were investigated using ¹³C NMR spectroscopy including ¹³C-labelling where appropriate. The methylations of both N-methyl amines occur by predominant (60% and 75%, respectively) equatorial approach, their ethylations occur sterospecifically by equatorial approach, and the methylations of the N-ethyl amines occur by highly stereoselective (> 90%) axial approach of the quaternizing reagent. Received October 27, 1999. Accepted November 22, 1999     

S. Wageh a,*, Ahmed A. Al‐Ghamdi a,Rashida Jafer a,Xin Li b,#, Peng Zhang c

太阳能是最丰富的清洁和可再生能源,光催化技术在太阳能利用中具有很大潜力,这有赖于高效半导体光催化剂的设计制备.然而,单一光催化剂效率很低,主要是光生电子和空穴的强库伦吸引力导致它们快速复合.此外,单一光催化剂也很难同时具有宽光谱吸收和足够的氧化还原能力.为了解决这一问题,构建异质结光催化剂成为一种有效途径,因为它可以实现光生电子和空穴在空间上的有效分离.针对传统的II型和Z型异质结在动力学和热力学方面的缺陷, 2019年由武汉理工大学余家国教授团队提出梯形异质这一新型异质结概念.对于II型异质结,热力学和动力学分析表明光生载流子的转移机理不正确.热力学和动力学分析表明光生载流子的转移机理不正确.而Z型异质结系统主要包括传统、全固态和直接Z型异质结三种类型.对于前两种异质结,它们的界面电子转移存在理论问题.传统Z型异质结利用氧化还原电对,而电子受体和给体更容易从与其具有较大的电势差的半导体接受或给予电子.全固态Z型异质结利用导体,比如导电金属或碳材料,取代氧化还原电对,从而使其应用范围由液态扩展到固态.然而通过进一步分析,它的电荷传输也有漏洞.首先,界面的肖特基势垒抑制电荷持续传输,此外,全固态Z型异质结中的导体与传统Z型中氧化还原电对的作用如出一辙.因此,传统Z型的问题在这里也依旧存在.总的来说, II型、传统和全固态Z型都面临相同的问题,就是光生电子和空穴拥有较弱的还原和氧化能力,而S型异质结则与它们截然不同.该异质结由氧化型和还原型光催化剂组成,内建电场、能带弯曲和库仑力三大作用促使氧化型的光生电子与还原型的光生空穴复合,同时阻止氧化型的光生空穴与还原型的光生电子转移.最终,电子和空穴分别具有高的还原和氧化能力.由于其优越性, S型异质结在各种光催化应用中引起了广泛的兴趣,包括产氢、二氧化碳还原、污染物降解和灭菌等领域.而S型异质结机理可以用X射线光电子能谱、电子顺磁共振和原子力显微镜进行表征.S型异质结崭露头角,未来发展可期.     

Solubility of α-amino acids in water under high pressure: glycine,l-alanine,l-valine,l-leucine,and l-isoleucine

The solubility of glycine, l-alanine, l-valine, l-leucine, and l-isoleucine in water was measured at 298.15 K and pressures up to 400 MPa. The standard deviation of the logarithm of the solubility is 0.001–0.003, equal to or better than the accuracy of atmospheric pressure measurement in the literature (0.001–0.05). A variety of solubility phenomena were observed. The solubility of glycine decreased with increasing pressure, whereas that of l-alanine increased. The l-valine and l-isoleucine have a solubility maximum at around 100 MPa, and l-leucine seems to exhibit a solid-phase phase transition at around 200 MPa. Pressure coefficient of the solubilities at 0.10 MPa is compared with that thermodynamically estimated in reference to aqueous density measurements of glycine and l-alanine at 298.15 K and 0.10 MPa, supporting a reliability of our high-pressure measurements.     

Dynamics of the surface layer in cyanobiphenyl–aerosil nanocomposites with a high silica density

Composites were prepared from an aerosil and 4-n-alkyl-4′cyanobiphenyls with five to eight carbon atoms in the alkyl chain. Their high silica density of ～7?g aerosil in 1?cm³ of liquid crystal (LC) allows the observation of the behaviour of a thin cyanobiphenyl layer (having nearly a monolayer structure) on the silica particles. The systems are investigated by dielectric spectroscopy (10^?2–10⁹?Hz) in a large temperature range (220–370?K). All the composites show a (main) relaxation process at frequencies much lower than the processes observed for the bulk LC that was assigned to the dynamics of the molecules in the surface layer. The temperature dependence of its characteristic frequencies obeys the Vogel–Fulcher–Tammann law, which is found to be typical for glass-forming liquids. The quasi two-dimensional character of the glass transition in the surface layer is discussed for the first time. At the nematic-to-isotropic transition temperature of the bulk, the composites show a continuous decrease of the characteristic frequencies as a function of the alkyl chain length, while the bulk LCs show the well known odd–even behaviour. The magnitude and temperature dependence of the slow relaxation process in the composites (molecules on an outer surface) agree with those of the same molecules confined to the nanopores of molecular sieves (internal surface).     

N-heterocyclic carbene as a promising metal-free electrocatalyst with high efficiency for nitrogen reduction to ammonia

Electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction(NRR)at ambient conditions holds great promise for sustainably synthesizing ammonia(NH3),while developing highly-efficient,long-term stable,and inexpensive catalysts to activate the inert N≡N bond is a key scientific issue.In this work,on the basis of the concept"N-heterocyclic carbenes(NHCs)",we propose a carbon decorated graphitic-carbon nitride(C/g-C3N4)as novel metal-free NRR electrocatalyst by means of density functional theory(DFT)computations.Our results reveal that the introduced C atom in g-C3N4 surface can be regarded as NHCs and catalytic sites for activating N≡N bond,and are stabilized by the g-C3N4 substrate due to sterically disfavored dimerization.Especially,this NHCs-based heterogeneous catalysis can efficiently reduce the activated N2 molecule to NH3 with a low overpotential of 0.05 V via an enzymatic mechanism.Our work is the first report of NHCs-based electrocatalyst for N2 fixation,thus opening an alternative avenue for advancing sustainable NH3 production.     

Polyamide-11/lead zirconate titanates—a novel composite material with high dielectric properties

Polymeric composites gain increasing interest in materials research and practice applications due to combining excellent electric property of piezoelectric ceramic and flexibility of polymer matrix. A novel decoupling capacitor with high dielectric constant has been developed by mixing polyamide-11 (PA11) with ferroelectric ceramic lead zirconate titanates (PZT). The composite demonstrates high dielectric constant, with better frequency stability and low dielectric losses. The dependence of the dielectric constant on frequency and polymer fraction was investigated. The excellent dielectric constant of 100 and the dielectric loss of 0.1 can be obtained at a PA11 volume fraction of 0.4. The enhanced dielectric behavior originates from good connection between ferroelectric ceramic and PA11 Dielectric losses of the PZT/PA11 composites change slightly with the test frequency. Our findings suggest that the created polymeric composites with relatively high dielectric constant represent a novel type of material that is flexible and easy to process. Moreover, is suited to applications in advanced decoupling capacitors and flexible electronics.     

A strategy to achieve high loading and high energy density Li-S batteries

Lithium-sulfur(Li-S) batteries are one of the most promising rechargeable storage devices due to the high theoretical energy density.However,the low areal sulfur loading impedes their commercial development.Herein,a 3 D free-standing sulfur cathode scaffold is rationally designed and fabricated by coaxially coating polar Ti_3 C_2 T_x flakes on sulfur-impregnated carbon cloth(Ti_3 C_2 T_x@S/CC) to achieve high loading and high energy density Li-S batteries,in which,the flexible CC substrate with highly porous structure can accommodate large amounts of sulfur and ensure fast electron transfer,while the outer-coated Ti_3 C_2 T_x can serve as a polar and conductive protective layer to further promote the conductivity of the whole electrode,achieve physical blocking and chemical anchoring of lithium-polysulfides as well as catalyze their conversion.Due to these advantages,at a sulfur loading of 4 mg cm^-2,Li-S cells with Ti_3 C_2 T_x@S/CC cathodes can deliver outstanding cycling stability(746.1 mAh g^-1 after 200 cycles at1 C),superb rate performance(866.8 mAh g^-1 up to 2 C) and a high specific energy density(564.2 Wh kg^-1 after 100 cycles at 0.5 C).More significantly,they also show the commercial potential that can compete with current lithium-ion batteries due to the high areal capacity of 6.7 mAh cm^-2 at the increased loading of 8 mg cm^-2.     

Double clathrate hydrates of tetrabutylammonium fluoride + helium, neon, hydrogen and argon at high pressures

Decomposition curves of double ionic clathrate hydrates of tetrabutylammonium fluoride with helium, neon, hydrogen and argon were studied at pressures up to 800 MPa. Formation of double hydrates with helium, neon and hydrogen does not lead to any significant increase of the temperatures of decomposition of these hydrates; at high temperatures the hydrates may decompose even at lower temperatures than the hydrate of pure tetraalkylammonium salt does. Decomposition temperatures of double hydrates with argon in all cases were 4–8 °C higher in comparison with the decomposition temperature of ionic clathrate hydrates of tetrabutylammonium fluoride. We suppose that this behavior is caused by simultaneous effect of three factors on hydrate decomposition temperature: (1) partial filling of the small cavities in the framework of the hydrate with water molecules, (2) weakness of the van der Waals interactions between the gas molecules and the host water molecules, and (3) dissolution of helium, hydrogen and neon in the solution of tetrabutylammonium salt causing a decrease of melting temperatures of the hydrates formed from these solutions.     

Complexation of neurotransmitters ‒ dopamine,serotonin and melatonin ‒ with a DTPA-based cyclophane of high rigidity: 1H NMR shift and line-broadening

The ¹H NMR signals of the titled neurotransmitters undergo up-field shift accompanied by line-broadening in NMR titration with the DTPA-based cyclophane at pD 7.3; the cyclophane consists of a 4,4′-bis(1,1′-biphenyl-4,4′-dihydroxy)dianiline unit cyclised by a DTPA (diethylenetriaminepentaacetate) group through two amide linkages. Changes in chemical shifts of dopamine indicate the formation of a 1:1 complex with the formation constant K₁ 400 M^?1; the complex of serotonin is likely to form a 2:1 host?guest complex with β₂ ≈ 10⁵ M^?2; melatonin does not form a complex with definite stoichiometry. The primary binding forces in the dopamine and serotonin complexes are electrostatic interaction between cationic neurotransmitter and anionic cyclophane molecules, and the resulting ionic pairs are stabilised by encapsulation. The electrostatic interaction is weakened by electrolytes; in 0.1 M Trizma buffer, dopamine does not yield a definite complex, and serotonin forms a 1:1 complex with K₁ 80 M^?1. Extreme line-broadening of neurotransmitter signals suggests that the molecular motion of the guest molecule is slowed in the complex by interactions with the receptor molecule whose internal molecular motion is quenched partially. The high rigidity of the cyclophane enhances intermolecular interaction in the hydrophobic regions to prolong the lifetime of the complex.