Long-term durability study of perfluoropolymer membranes in low humidification conditions

This paper reports a study on the understanding of the performance decrease mechanisms of polymer electrolyte fuel cells under critical operating conditions. In order to investigate the durability of perfluorosulfonate membranes at low humidification conditions, long-term fuel cell tests have been carried out. Results evidenced a strong effect of low relative humidity on the commercial polymer membrane lifetime. Prolonged dehydration of the membranes led to a decrease of the three-dimensional reaction zone due to the ionomer degradation in the catalytic layer and a continuous loss of material in the membrane evidenced by a thickness decrease. The last effect provoked a collapse of the electrode structure.     

Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopic study of MS σ bonding energy and of spiroconjugation effects in group IVA thiospiranes

He(I) and He(II) ultraviolet photoelectron spectra of tetrathiometallaspiranes

(M = C, Si, Ge, Sn) yield data for quantitative characterization of several structural effects. Spiroconjugation of the lone pair orbitals of the sulfur atoms is indicated by the splitting patterns of the n_s ionization bands in the low IE region (8–9_eV); quantitative evaluation confirms that there is a marked decrease of the spiroconjugation effects with increasing size of M. Energy values are assigned by UP spectral analysis to MS σ bond orbitals which show a small variation with M between ca. 10 and 11 eV, consistent with the small electronegativity variation, and to CS bond orbitals in the spirane rings, fairly constant around 13.5 eV. Ionizations of the quasi-valence 4d orbitals in the Sn derivative are identified at 34.38 and 35.42 eV, and suggest, by comparison with other known Sn compounds, a considerably high overall electronegativity of the ligands in the present compound.     

New Tetranuclear Ruthenium(I) Carbonyl Trifluoroacetate Complex: Gas-Phase Transformations and Coordination Reactions

A new mixed ligand ruthenium(I) complex of the composition [Ru₂(O₂CCF₃)₂(CO)₅] (1) has been prepared by refluxing Ru₃(CO)₁₂ with trifluoroacetic acid in a dichloromethane/benzene mixture. Crystals of 1 were obtained by gas phase sublimation of the crude product at 110°C. The X-ray diffraction study has revealed a tetranuclear `8dimer of dimers' 9 structure [Ru₂(O₂CCF₃)₂(CO)₅]₂ in 1. Complex 1 can be re-sublimed without decomposition at temperatures up to 130°C, while at higher temperatures fragmentation accompanied by a ligand re-distribution reaction has been observed. As a result, two new ruthenium(I) complexes have been isolated from the gas phase transformation of 1 at 160°C: [Ru₂(O₂CCF₃)₂(CO)₆] (2) and [Ru₂(O₂CCF₃)₂(CO)₄] (3). Complex 2 has a dinuclear cis-trifluoroacetato-bridged core, while 3 exhibits a polymeric structure built on axial Ru···O interactions of the dimetal units, [Ru₂(O₂CCF₃)₂(CO)₄]. The above reaction suggests the possible gas phase dissociation of the tetranuclear molecule 1 to the dimetal fragments, [Ru₂(O₂CCF₃)₂(CO)₅] that have one open axial coordination site. The latter was proved by codeposition of 1 with an aromatic hydrocarbon, [2. 2]paracyclophane, that afforded a new sandwich compound, [Ru₂(O₂CCF₃)₂(CO)₅·(₂-C₁₆H₁₆)·Ru₂(O₂CCF₃)₂(CO)₅] (4), in which the ligand is entrapped between two dimetal complexes. In contrast, when 3 is codeposited with [2. 2]paracyclophane, a new 1D polymeric product, [Ru₂(O₂CCF₃)₂(CO)₄·(₂-C₁₆H₁₆)] (5) has been isolated. Complexes 1–5 have been fully characterized by IR and NMR spectroscopy, as well as by X-ray diffraction.     

Evidence for a compensation effect during the temperature-programmed reduction of copper oxide in hydrogen

The reduction of copper oxide derived from basic Cu-carbonate in hydrogen has been studied under temperature-programmed conditions (TPR) and the TPR patterns were analyzed by means of Arrhenius plots at constant conversion (Friedman plots). These plots indicate that the reduction process cannot be described on the basis of constant kinetic parameters and reveal the presence of isokinetic temperatures. These suggest the presence of a compensation effect requiring a modification of the rate equation.     

Chemistry at the Edge of Graphene

The selective functionalization of graphene edges is driven by the chemical reactivity of its carbon atoms. The chemical reactivity of an edge, as an interruption of the honeycomb lattice of graphene, differs from the relative inertness of the basal plane. In fact, the unsaturation of the p_z orbitals and the break of the π conjugation on an edge increase the energy of the electrons at the edge sites, leading to specific chemical reactivity and electronic properties. Given the relevance of the chemistry at the edges in many aspects of graphene, the present Review investigates the processes and mechanisms that drive the chemical functionalization of graphene at the edges. Emphasis is given to the selective chemical functionalization of graphene edges from theoretical and experimental perspectives, with a particular focus on the characterization tools available to investigate the chemistry of graphene at the edge.     

D-alaninol adsorption on Cu(100): photoelectron spectroscopy and first-principles calculations

The adsorption of a single molecule of the D-enantiomer of alaninol (2-amino-1-propanol) on the surface of Cu(100) is investigated through density functional theory calculations. Different possible adsorption sites for D-alaninol are tested, and it is found that the most stable configuration presents both amino and hydroxyl group covalently interacting with "on top" copper atoms. The electronic structure is analyzed in detail and compared with experimental photoelectron spectra. Another adsorption structure in which a dehydrogenation process is assumed to occur on the amino group is analyzed and provides a possible explanation of the valence band electronic structure and of the experimentally observed N 1s core-level shift at full coverage, where a self-assembled ordered chiral monolayer is formed on the copper surface.     

FACTS: Fast analytical continuum treatment of solvation

An efficient method for calculating the free energy of solvation of a (macro)molecule embedded in a continuum solvent is presented. It is based on the fully analytical evaluation of the volume and spatial symmetry of the solvent that is displaced from around a solute atom by its neighboring atoms. The two measures of solvent displacement are combined in empirical equations to approximate the atomic (or self) electrostatic solvation energy and the solvent accessible surface area. The former directly yields the effective Born radius, which is used in the generalized Born (GB) formula to calculate the solvent-screened electrostatic interaction energy. A comparison with finite-difference Poisson data shows that atomic solvation energies, pair interaction energies, and their sums are evaluated with a precision comparable to the most accurate GB implementations. Furthermore, solvation energies of a large set of protein conformations have an error of only 1.5%. The solvent accessible surface area is used to approximate the nonpolar contribution to solvation. The empirical approach, called FACTS (Fast Analytical Continuum Treatment of Solvation), is only four times slower than using the vacuum energy in molecular dynamics simulations of proteins. Notably, the folded state of structured peptides and proteins is stable at room temperature in 100-ns molecular dynamics simulations using FACTS and the CHARMM force field.     

Estimation of protein folding probability from equilibrium simulations

The assumption that similar structures have similar folding probabilities (p(fold)) leads naturally to a procedure to evaluate p(fold) for every snapshot saved along an equilibrium folding-unfolding trajectory of a structured peptide or protein. The procedure utilizes a structurally homogeneous clustering and does not require any additional simulation. It can be used to detect multiple folding pathways as shown for a three-stranded antiparallel beta-sheet peptide investigated by implicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations.