Reversibly Switching the Charge State and Adsorption Location of A Single Potassium Atom on Ultrathin CuO Films

Potassium (K) cations are spontaneously formed upon thermal deposition of low‐coverage K onto an ultrathin CuO monolayer grown on Cu(110) and they were explored by low‐temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and X‐ray photoemission spectroscopy. The formed K cations are highly immobile and thermally stable. The local work function around an individual K cation decreases by 1.5±0.3 eV, and a charging zone underneath it is established within about 1.0 nm. The cationic and neutral states of the K atom are switchable upon application of an STM bias voltage pulse, which is simultaneously accompanied by an adsorption site relocation.     

Scalable Photoelectrochemical Dehydrogenative Cross‐Coupling of Heteroarenes with Aliphatic C−H Bonds

Heteroarenes are structural motifs found in many bioactive compounds and functional materials. Dehydrogenative cross‐coupling of heteroarenes with aliphatic C?H bonds provides straightforward access to functionalized heteroarenes from readily available materials. Established methods employ stoichiometric chemical oxidants under conditions of heating or light irradiation. By merging electrochemistry and photochemistry, we have achieved efficient photoelectrochemical dehydrogenative cross‐coupling of heteroarenes and C(sp³)?H donors through H₂ evolution, without the addition of metal catalysts or chemical oxidants. Mechanistically, the C(sp³)?H donor is converted to a nucleophilic carbon radical through H‐atom transfer with chlorine atom, which is produced by light irradiation of anodically generated Cl₂ from Cl^?. The carbon radical then undergoes radical substitution to the heteroarene to afford alkylated heteroarene products.     

Microfluidic chip electrophoresis for biochemical analysis

Microfluidic chip electrophoresis has been widely employed for separation of various biochemical species owing to its advantages of low sample consumption, low cost, fast analysis, high throughput, and integration capability. In this article, we reviewed the development of four different modes of microfluidics‐based electrophoresis technologies including capillary electrophoresis, gel electrophoresis, dielectrophoresis, and field (electric) flow fractionation. Coupling detection schemes on microfluidic electrophoresis platform were also reviewed such as optical, electrochemical, and mass spectrometry method. We further discussed the innovative applications of microfluidic electrophoresis for biomacromolecules (nucleic acids and proteins), biochemical small molecules (amino acids, metabolites, ions, etc.), and bioparticles (cells and pathogens) analysis. The future direction of microfluidic chip electrophoresis was predicted.     

Calcium ion pinned vanadium oxide cathode for high-capacity and long-life aqueous rechargeable zinc-ion batteries

Science China Chemistry - Rechargeable aqueous zinc ion batteries (ZIBs), with the easy operation, cost effectiveness, and high safety, are emerging candidates for high-energy wearable/portable...     

Metal ion-promoted fabrication of melanin-like poly(L-DOPA) nanoparticles for photothermal actuation

Melanin-inspired polymers are currently the focus of growing interest for a wide range of applications ranging from energy to biomedical area. Whilst researchers have made numerous attempts to prepare and utilize polydopamine nanoparticles(PDA NPs), they have made limited progress in developing and discovering another typical functional mimic of natural melanin, poly(levodopa)(P(L-DOPA)) NPs, probably due to the lack of facile synthetic strategies towards satisfactory structural and functional control of melanin-like NPs. Herein, we reported a one-pot preparation method towards P(L-DOPA) NPs with good yields and controllable size/property in an aqueous solution assisted by various metal ions(i.e., Ni(II), Mg(II), Ca(II), Fe(III), Mn(II), Co(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II)). Interestingly, the resulting P(L-DOPA) NPs exhibited enhanced light absorption and photothermal behaviors compared with well-established PDA NPs, which can be employed to further fabricate kinds of photothermal composite actuators with promising performances such as folding, switching, and forward-moving. This study offers a facile and robust way to synthesize new synthetic melanins beyond PDA, and facilitates further functional discovery and evolution of melanin-inspired polymers and composites.     

Understanding energetic disorder in electron-deficient-core-based non-fullerene solar cells

Recent advances in material design for organic solar cells(OSCs) are primarily focused on developing near-infrared nonfullerene acceptors, typically A-DA′D-A type acceptors(where A abbreviates an electron-withdrawing moiety and D, an electron-donor moiety), to achieve high external quantum efficiency while maintaining low voltage loss. However, the charge transport is still constrained by unfavorable molecular conformations, resulting in high energetic disorder and limiting the device performance. Here, a facile design strategy is reported by introducing the "wing"(alkyl chains) at the terminal of the DA′D central core of the A-DA′D-A type acceptor to achieve a favorable and ordered molecular orientation and therefore facilitate charge carrier transport. Benefitting from the reduced disorder, the electron mobilities could be significantly enhanced for the"wing"-containing molecules. By carefully changing the length of alkyl chains, the mobility of acceptor has been tuned to match with that of donor, leading to a minimized charge imbalance factor and a high fill factor(FF). We further provide useful design strategies for highly efficient OSCs with high FF.     

2020 Roadmap on Carbon Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion

Carbon is a simple, stable and popular element with many allotropes. The carbon family members include carbon dots, carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers, graphene, graphite, graphdiyne and hard carbon, etc. They can be divided into different dimensions, and their structures can be open and porous. Moreover, it is very interesting to dope them with other elements (metal or non‐metal) or hybridize them with other materials to form composites. The elemental and structural characteristics offer us to explore their applications in energy, environment, bioscience, medicine, electronics and others. Among them, energy storage and conversion are extremely attractive, as advances in this area may improve our life quality and environment. Some energy devices will be included herein, such as lithium‐ion batteries, lithium sulfur batteries, sodium‐ion batteries, potassium‐ion batteries, dual ion batteries, electrochemical capacitors, and others. Additionally, carbon‐based electrocatalysts are also studied in hydrogen evolution reaction and carbon dioxide reduction reaction. However, there are still many challenges in the design and preparation of electrode and electrocatalytic materials. The research related to carbon materials for energy storage and conversion is extremely active, and this has motivated us to contribute with a roadmap on ‘Carbon Materials in Energy Storage and Conversion’.     

Molybdenum Carbide‐Embedded Multichannel Hollow Carbon Nanofibers as Bifunctional Catalysts for Water Splitting

With the environmental pollution and non‐renewable fossil fuels, it is imperative to develop eco‐friendly, renewable, and highly efficient electrocatalysts for sustainable energy. Herein, a simple electrospinning process used to synthesis Mo₂C‐embedded multichannel hollow carbon nanofibers (Mo₂C‐MCNFs) and followed by the pyrolysis process. As prepared lotus root‐like nanoarchitecture could offer rich porosity and facilitate the electrolyte infiltration, the Mo₂C‐MCNFs delivered favourable catalytic activity for HER and OER. The resultant catalysts exhibit low overpotentials of 114 mV and 320 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm^?2 for HER and OER, respectively. Furthermore, using the Mo₂C‐MCNFs catalysts as a bifunctional electrode toward overall water splitting, which only needs a small cell voltage of 1.68 V to afford a current density of 10 mA cm^?2 in the home‐made alkaline electrolyzer. This interesting work presents a simple and effective strategy to further fabricating tunable nanostructures for energy‐related applications.     

Synthesis,crystal structures and magnetic and electrochemiluminescence properties of three manganese(II) complexes

Three novel complexes, namely, penta‐μ‐acetato‐bis(μ₂‐2‐{[2‐(6‐chloropyridin‐2‐yl)hydrazinylidene]methyl}‐6‐methoxyphenolato)‐μ‐formato‐tetramanganese(II), [Mn₄(C₁₃H₁₁ClN₃O₂)₂(C₂H₃O₂)_5.168(CHO₂)_0.832], 1 , hexa‐μ₂‐acetato‐bis(μ₂‐2‐{[2‐(6‐bromopyridin‐2‐yl)hydrazinylidene]methyl}‐6‐methoxyphenolato)tetramanganese(II), [Mn₄(C₁₃H₁₁BrN₃O₂)₂(C₂H₃O₂)₆], 2 , and catena‐poly[[μ₂‐acetato‐acetatoaqua(μ₂‐2‐{[2‐(6‐chloropyridin‐2‐yl)hydrazinylidene]methyl}‐6‐methoxyphenolato)dimanganese(II)]‐μ₂‐acetato], [Mn₂(C₁₃H₁₁ClN₃O₂)(C₂H₃O₂)₃(H₂O)]_n, 3 , have been synthesized using solvothermal methods. Complexes 1 – 3 were characterized by IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. Complexes 1 and 2 are tetranuclear manganese clusters, while complex 3 has a one‐dimensional network based on tetranuclear Mn₄(L¹)₂(CH₃COO)₆(H₂O)₂ building units (L¹ is 2‐{[2‐(6‐chloropyridin‐2‐yl)hydrazinylidene]methyl}‐6‐methoxyphenolate). Magnetic studies reveal that complexes 1 – 3 display dominant antiferromagnetic interactions between Mn^II ions through μ₂‐O bridges. In addition, 1 – 3 also display favourable electrochemiluminescence (ECL) properties.