Vertically Grown Few-Layer MoS2 Nanosheets on Hierarchical Carbon Nanocages for Pseudocapacitive Lithium Storage with Ultrahigh-Rate Capability and Long-Term Recyclability

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) is an intensively studied anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to its high theoretical capacity, but it is still confronted by severe challenges of unsatisfactory rate capability and cycle life. Herein, few-layer MoS₂ nanosheets, vertically grown on hierarchical carbon nanocages (hCNC) by a facile hydrothermal method, introduce pseudocapacitive lithium storage owing to the highly exposed MoS₂ basal planes, enhanced conductivity, and facilitated electrolyte access arising from good hybridization with hCNC. Thus, the optimized MoS₂/hCNC exhibits reversible capacities of 1670 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹ after 50 cycles, 621 mAh g⁻¹ at 5.0 A g⁻¹ after 500 cycles, and 196 mAh g⁻¹ at 50 A g⁻¹ after 2500 cycles, which are among the best for MoS₂-based anode materials. The specific power and specific energy, which can reach 16.1 kW and 252.8 Wh after 3000 cycles, respectively, indicate great potential in high-power and long-life LIBs. These findings suggest a promising strategy for exploring advanced anode materials with high reversible capacity, high-rate capability, and long-term recyclability.     

The Wigner–Yanase information can increase under phase sensitive incoherent operations

We found that the Wigner-Yanase skew information, which has been recently proposed as a measure of coherence in Girolami (2014), can increase under a class of operations which may be interpreted as incoherent following the framework of Baumgratz et al., while being phase sensitive.     

Hydrothermal synthesis and structural characterization of a one-dimensional coordination polymer [Zn(Pydc)(Dppz)] n (H2Pydc = 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid, Dppz = dipyrido[3,2-a:2′,3′-c]phenazine)

A new metal-organic coordination polymer [Zn(Pydc)(Dppz)] _n (I) (H₂Pydc = 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid, Dppz = dipyrido[3,2-a:2′,3′-c]phenazine) was hydrothermally synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR and X-ray single-crystal diffraction. The X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that I crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P2₁/c. The Pydc^2? ligands adopt O,N,O′-tridentate chelating and monodentate bridging coordination mode to link two adjacent Zn2+ ions to form a one-dimensional (1D) zigzag chain. The adjacent chains are further linked through hydrogen bonds and π-π stacking interactions, forming a three-dimensional (3D) supramolecular framework. The unit cell parameters for I: a = 7.332(3) Å, b = 36.023(9) Å, c = 7.8838(13) Å, β = 105.65(3)^○, V = 2005.1(10) ų, Z = 4.     

Quick estimation of the Dpb for predicting the strength of chemical bond in situ

An approximate method has been established to calculate the depth of the potential acting on an electron in a molecule at the saddle point along a chemical bond, denoted by Dpb. It is a new indicator which can be used for predicting the strength of a chemical bond. In this work, as a practical application for demonstrating thismethod, we calculated the Dpb of deoxyribonucleosides and ribonucleosides along all C-H and N-H chemical bonds using the method. The results are in fair agreement with those results of previously reported experimental and theoretical observations.     

Alginate‐Based Microcapsules with a Molecule Recognition Linker and Photosensitizer for the Combined Cancer Treatment

A reactive template method was used to fabricate alginate‐based hydrogel microcapsules. The uniform and well‐dispersed hydrogel capsules have a high drug loading capacity. After they are coated by a folate‐linked lipid mixture on the surface, the capsules possess higher cell uptake efficiency by the molecule recognition between folate and the folate‐receptor overexpressed by the cancer cells. Moreover, in this bioconjugate, the lipid could remarkably reduce the release rate of hydrophilic doxorubicin from the hydrogel microcapsules and encapsulate the hydrophobic photosensitizer hypocrellin B. The biointerfaced capsules could be used as drug carriers for combined treatment against cancer cell proliferation in vitro; this was much more effective than chemotherapy or photodynamic therapy alone.     

Efficient One-Pot Synthesis of Benzimidazoles Under Solvent-Free Conditions

A green, efficient method for the synthesis of various 2-aryl-benzimidazoles in the presence of hypervalent iodine as the oxidant at room temperature under solvent-free conditions is reported. The salient features of this method include mild conditions, short reaction times (3–5 min), excellent yields, and simple procedure.     

Reductive Coupling of Aldehydes,Ketones and Aroyl Chlorides Induced by LVT Prepared from TiCl4/Al System

Aluminium powder has been used to reduce titanium tetrachloride to generate the low valent titanium (LVT)reagent which can induce the reductive coupling of aldehydes and ketones to form the corresponding pinacols or olefins. However, arylsulfonyl chlorides will give diaryldisulfides under the same condition.     

Diastereoselective Synthesis of γ-Butenolides Catalyzed by Potassium tert-Butoxide

Potassium tert-butoxide (0.1 mol%) catalyzed a vinylogous Mukaiyama aldol reaction between aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes with 2-(trimethylsilyloxy)furan. The corresponding γ-butenolides were obtained in good yields with good diastereoselectivities.     

Electrophoretic separation of gold nanoparticles according to bifunctional molecules‐induced charge and size

Gold nanospheres modified with bifunctional molecules have been separated and characterized by using agarose gel electrophoresis as well as optical spectroscopy and electron microscopy. The electrophoretic mobility of a gold nanosphere capped with 11‐mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA) has been found to depend on the number of MUA molecules per gold nanosphere, indicating that it increases with the surface charge of the nanoparticle. The extinction spectrum of gold nanospheres capped with MUA at an MUA molecules per gold nanosphere value of 1000 and connected via 1,6‐hexanedithiol (HDT) decreases by 33% in magnitude and shifts to the red as largely as 22 nm with the increase of the molar ratio of HDT to MUA (R_HM). Gold nanospheres capped with MUA and connected via HDT have been separated successfully using gel electrophoresis and characterized by measuring reflectance spectra of discrete electrophoretic bands directly in the gel and by monitoring transmission electron microscope images of gold nanoparticles collected from the discrete bands. Electrophoretic mobility has been found to decrease substantially with the increment of HDT to MUA, indicating that the size of aggregated gold nanoparticles increases with the concentration of HDT.