Preparation and characterization of high-rate and long-cycle LiFePO4/C nanocomposite as cathode material for lithium-ion battery

Olivine LiFePO₄/C nanocomposite cathode materials with small-sized particles and a unique electrochemical performance were successfully prepared by a simple solid-state reaction using oxalic acid and citric acid as the chelating reagent and carbon source. The structure and electrochemical properties of the samples were investigated. The results show that LiFePO₄/C nanocomposite with oxalic acid (oxalic acid: Fe²⁺= 0.75:1) and a small quantity of citric acid are single phase and deliver initial discharge capacity of 122.1 mAh/g at 1 C with little capacity loss up to 500 cycles at room temperature. The rate capability and cyclability are also outstanding at elevated temperature. When charged/discharged at 60 °C, this materials present excellent initial discharge capacity of 148.8 mAh/g at 1 C, 128.6 mAh/g at 5 C, and 115.0 mAh/g at 10 C, respectively. The extraordinarily high performance of LiFePO₄/C cathode materials can be exploited suitably for practical lithium-ion batteries.     

Frontispiece: Square-Planar Anionic Pt0 Complexes

A T-shaped Pt⁰ complex with a diphosphine-borane (DPB) ligand was prepared. The Pt→B interaction enhances the electrophilicity of the metal and triggers the addition of Lewis bases to give the corresponding tetracoordinate complexes. For the first time, anionic Pt⁰ complexes are isolated and structurally authenticated. X-ray diffraction analyses show the anionic complexes [(DPB)PtX]⁻ (X=CN, Cl, Br, I) to be square-planar. The d¹⁰ configuration and Pt⁰ oxidation state of the metal were unambiguously established by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and DFT calculations. The coordination of Lewis acids as Z-type ligands is a powerful mean to stabilize elusive electron-rich metal complexes and achieve uncommon geometry.     

Size-controlled, one-pot synthesis, characterization, and biological applications of epoxy-organosilica particles possessing positive zeta potential

Epoxy-organosilica particles made from 2-(3,4-epoxycyclohexyl)ethyltrimethoxysilane (EpoMS) as a single silica source were synthesized by means of a one-pot method. We evaluated three sets of synthesis conditions, including traditional Stober conditions and two variations. Although the traditional conditions did not afford EpoMS particles, the variations did. The size distributions of the particles were evaluated by means of transmission electron microscopy. The mean diameters and size distributions of the particles depended on the EpoMS concentration, and the best coefficient of variation for the size distribution was 5.9%. The surface of the particles had unique properties, such as a positive zeta potential. The particles bound strongly to proteins as well as to DNA. The particles made from EpoMS, allowing particles internally functionalized with fluorescent dye to be prepared by means of a one-pot synthesis. EpoMS particles doped and tuned with fluorescent dye showed strong fluorescence signals and distinct peaks on flow cytometry, and the fluorescent particles could be used to label cells. The labeled cells showed clear fluorescence under a fluorescence microscope, and electron microscopy showed many particles in the cytoplasm. This is the first report describing the synthesis of epoxy-organosilica particles with a positive zeta potential and describing differences in the characteristics of particle formations due to changes in synthesis conditions. We also discuss the advantages of EpoMS particles, as well as the potential biological applications of these particles.     

MPI/OpenMP hybrid parallel implementation of second-order M?ller�CPlesset perturbation theory using numerical quadratures

An algorithm for massively parallel computers is developed for energy calculations of second-order M?ller?CPlesset (MP2) perturbation theory with numerical quadratures. Message Passing Interface (MPI) and Open Multi-Processing (OpenMP) technologies are utilized for inter-node and intra-node parallelization, respectively. Computational tasks and intermediates are distributed across nodes by dividing quadrature points, and the distributed data are stored in memory. Benchmark calculations were performed on 256?C8,192 CPU cores, and we observed the speed-ups 4,534?C6,266 for 8,192 cores. A large calculation for fullerene (C₆₀) with aug-cc-pCVTZ (3,540 basis functions) was completed in ca. 4.8?h on 8,192 cores without invoking molecular symmetry.     

Stable triplex formation using the strong stacking effect of consecutive thionucleoside moieties

In this study, it was found that the arrangement of consecutive thiocarbonyl groups of s(2)T and m(5)s(2)C remarkably stabilized the pre-protonated form of the triplex, and that the stabilization of the pre-protonated form increased the pKa value of a cytosine derivative in the triplex.     

Stable hydrogen isotopic analysis of nanomolar molecular hydrogen by automatic multi-step gas chromatographic separation

We have developed a new automated analytical system that employs a continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometer to determine the stable hydrogen isotopic composition (δD) of nanomolar quantities of molecular hydrogen (H₂) in an air sample. This method improves previous methods to attain simpler and lower‐cost analyses, especially by avoiding the use of expensive or special devices, such as a Toepler pump, a cryogenic refrigerator, and a special evacuation system to keep the temperature of a coolant under reduced pressure. Instead, the system allows H₂ purification from the air matrix via automatic multi‐step gas chromatographic separation using the coolants of both liquid nitrogen (77 K) and liquid nitrogen + ethanol (158 K) under 1 atm pressure. The analytical precision of the δD determination using the developed method was better than 4‰ for >5 nmol injections (250 mL STP for 500 ppbv air sample) and better than 15‰ for 1 nmol injections, regardless of the δD value, within 1 h for one sample analysis. Using the developed system, the δD values of H₂ can be quantified for atmospheric samples as well as samples of representative sources and sinks including those containing small quantities of H₂, such as H₂ in soil pores or aqueous environments, for which there is currently little δD data available. As an example of such trace H₂ analyses, we report here the isotope fractionations during H₂ uptake by soils in a static chamber. The δD values of H₂ in these H₂‐depleted environments can be useful in constraining the budgets of atmospheric H₂ by applying an isotope mass balance model. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enhancement of the third-order nonlinear optical properties in open-shell singlet transition-metal dinuclear systems: effects of the group, of the period, and of the charge of the metal atom

Metal-metal multiply bonded complexes in their singlet state have been predicted to form a novel class of "σ-dominant" third-order nonlinear optical compounds based on the results of dichromium(II) and dimolybdenum(II) systems (H. Fukui et al. J. Phys. Chem. Lett.2011, 2, 2063) whose second hyperpolarizabilities (γ) are enhanced by the contribution of the dσ electrons with an intermediate diradical character. In this study, using the spin-unrestricted coupled-cluster method with singles and doubles as well as with perturbative triples, we investigate the dependences of γ on the group and on the period of the transition metals as well as on their atomic charges in several open-shell singlet dimetallic systems. A significant enhancement of γ is observed in those dimetallic systems composed of (i) transition metals with a small group number, (ii) transition metals with a large periodic number, and (iii) transition metals with a small positive charge. From the decomposition of the γ values into the contributions of dσ, dπ, and dδ electrons, the γ enhancements are shown to originate from the dσ contribution, because it corresponds to the intermediate diradical character region. Furthermore, the amplitude of dσ contribution turns out to be related to the size of the d(z(2)) atomic orbital of the transition metal, which accounts for the dependence of γ on the group, on the period, and on the charge of the metal atoms. These dependences provide a guideline for an effective molecular design of highly efficient third-order nonlinear optical (NLO) systems based on the metal-metal bonded systems.