Sulfur and Nitrogen Codoped Carbon Tubes as Bifunctional Metal‐Free Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction and Hydrogen Evolution in Acidic Media

Invited for the cover of this issue is the group of Qiang Wu and Zheng Hu at Nanjing University. The image depicts sulfur and nitrogen codoped carbon tubes as bifunctional metal‐free electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction and hydrogen evolution in acidic media. Read the full text of the article at 10.1002/chem.201601535 .     

Beam emittance investigation in high brightness injector using different driver laser profiles

Beam emittance plays an important role in any accelerator, and it is a main parameter to judge the performance of an accelerator. Emittance optimization is an indispensable part in conditioning and operation of the facility. For a laser-driven high brightness injector, different time structure of the laser pulse has different effects on transverse emittance. In order to compare Gaussian and flat-top laser pulse, systematic simulations of 500 pC have been done. From the simulation results, one can see that flat-top pulse laser will yield smaller minimal transverse beam size and transverse beam emittance than Gaussian pulse laser.     

Theoretical study of the thermal rearrangement of chloromethylsilanes, and its mechanism

The thermal rearrangement reactions of chloromethylsilane, (chloromethyl)dimethylsilane, and (chloromethyl)vinylsilane have been studied by use of the density functional theory method at the B3LYP/6-311G(d, p) level. The structures of the reactants, transition states, and the products were determined and fully optimized. The geometries of the different stationary points and the harmonic vibrational frequencies were calculated at the same level. The results showed that thermal rearrangement of the chloromethylsilanes occurred via one pathway. The chlorine atom migrated from the carbon atom to the silicon atom, and the hydrogen atom migrated simultaneously from the silicon atom to the carbon atom through a double-three-membered-ring transition state, forming methylchlorosilane, trimethylchlorosilane, and vinylmethylchlorosilane. The energy barriers of the three rearrangements calculated at the B3LYP/6-311G(d, p) level were 217.4, 201.6, and 208.7 kJ mol^?1, respectively. The effects of alkyl substituents on silicon atom are discussed. Changes of thermodynamic functions, equilibrium constant, and reaction rate constant were calculated in accordance with Eyring transition-state theory over the temperature range 400–1,500 K.     

Sorption equilibria of CO2 on silica-gels in the presence of water

The sorption equilibria of carbon dioxide on three types of silica gel (SG) with different pore size distributions in the presence of water were studied experimentally using a volumetric method at 275?K with pressures from 0 to 3.7?MPa. Both the pore size distribution of the silica gel and the quantity of pre-sorbed water impact the formation of the CO₂ hydrates. For wet silicon gel A(SG-A) with water loading ratio of 0.75, the highest CO₂ sorption was about 2.5?mmol of CO₂ per gram of dry sorbent at 275?K. Similarly, the highest sorption was about 2.7?mmol for wet SG-B with R _w =0.81. However, CO₂ hydrate did not form on the wet surface of SG-C due to its large pore sizes.