Preferential Co substitution on Ni sites in Ni–Fe oxide arrays enabling large-current-density alkaline oxygen evolution

Developing low-cost and high-activity transition metal oxide electrocatalysts for an efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at a large current density is highly demanded for industrial application and remains a big challenge. Herein, we report vertically aligned cobalt doped Ni–Fe based oxide (Co–NiO/Fe₂O₃) arrays as a robust OER electrocatalyst via a simple method combining hydrothermal reaction with heat treatment. Density functional theory calculation and XRD Rietveld refinement reveal that Co preferentially occupies the Ni sites compared to Fe in the Ni–Fe based oxides. The electronic structures of the Co–NiO/Fe₂O₃ could be further optimized, leading to the improvement of the intrinsic electronic conductivity and d-band center energy level and the decrease in the reaction energy barrier of the rate-determining step for the OER, thus accelerating its OER electrocatalytic activity. The Co–NiO/Fe₂O₃ nanosheet arrays display state-of-the-art OER activities at a large current density for industrial demands among Fe–Co–Ni based oxide electrocatalysts, which only require an ultra-low overpotential of 230 mV at a high current density of 500 mA cm⁻², and exhibit superb durability at 500 mA cm⁻² for at least 300 h without obvious degradation. The Co–NiO/Fe₂O₃ nanosheet arrays also have a small Tafel slope of 33.9 mV dec⁻¹, demonstrating fast reaction kinetics. This work affords a simple and effective method to design and construct transition metal oxide based electrocatalysts for efficient water oxidation.

Co–NiO/Fe₂O₃ nanosheets featuring Co substitution on Ni sites can effectively regulate electronic structures and exhibit high OER activities with low overpotential (η₅₀₀ = 230 mV), small Tafel slope (33.9 mV dec⁻¹) and superb durability for 300 h.     

三聚氰胺-甲醛系凝胶老化过程中的体积收缩影响因素

 介绍了三聚氰胺-甲醛凝胶老化过程的溶剂效应及其对体积收缩的影响。从凝胶的离浆-溶胀平衡以及溶剂效应等两个方面对湿凝胶老化过程中的体积收缩作了分析,通过测量形状规则的湿凝胶在溶剂交换和老化过程中的体积变化研究湿凝胶组成、交换溶剂的成分及步骤对凝胶体积收缩的影响。结果表明：控制交换溶剂的组成能显著改善湿凝胶后处理过程中的体积收缩。合适的湿凝胶交换步骤是先使用凝胶体内液体和目标溶剂的混合溶剂进行交换,逐次增大目标溶剂的含量,直至最后使用纯目标溶剂进行交换,即可获得体积收缩较小的湿凝胶体系。     

离子对rod-pinch二极管工作特性的影响

 利用PIC粒子模拟方法,结合对同轴结构二极管工作模式的半解析描述,研究了离子存在与否对rod-pinch二极管（RPD）工作特性的影响。模拟给出了二极管的伏安特性、不同时刻电子和离子的相空间分布以及空间电流分布等。结果表明随着电流逐渐增大,其工作模式从空间电荷限制流依次向弱箍缩流和磁绝缘流转变。只有存在离子的情况下,电子才能沿着阳极杆表面运动并在其末端发生箍缩,表明RPD中离子电流的存在对于RPD工作是必需的。     

高超声速低温喷管副喷管参数化设计

 通过对DF化学激光器高超声速低温(HYLTE)喷管副喷管流动与几何参数进行制约关系和敏感性分析,确定了能够对副喷管进行参数化设计的4个基本几何控制参数和2个调节参数,初步建立了HYLTE喷管副喷管的参数化设计方法。引入了相对未混合度作为衡量喷管混合效果的性能参数,建立了较完备的3维反应流数值模拟计算程序。结果表明：该方法选择的基本参数能够敏感地反映HYLTE喷管副喷管的尺寸特征和关键性能。     

High-performance potassium poly(heptazine imide) films for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is an appealing approach by which to convert solar energy into hydrogen fuel. Polymeric semiconductors have recently attracted intense interest of many scientists for PEC water splitting. The crystallinity of polymer films is regarded as the main factor that determines the conversion efficiency. Herein, potassium poly(heptazine) imide (K-PHI) films with improved crystallinity were in situ prepared on a conductive substrate as a photoanode for solar-driven water splitting. A remarkable photocurrent density of ca. 0.80 mA cm⁻² was achieved under air mass 1.5 global illumination without the use of any sacrificial agent, a performance that is ca. 20 times higher than that of the photoanode in an amorphous state, and higher than those of other related polymeric photoanodes. The boosted performance can be attributed to improved charge transfer, which has been investigated using steady state and operando approaches. This work elucidates the pivotal importance of the crystallinity of conjugated polymer semiconductors for PEC water splitting and other advanced photocatalytic applications.

Potassium poly(heptazine imide) photoanode is synthesized, and owing to the improved crystallinity, it has presented a remarkable performance for solar-driven water splitting.     

Alkene insertion reactivity of a o-carboranyl-substituted 9-borafluorene

The synthesis of 9-borafluorene with an electron-withdrawing o-carboranyl substituent and its reactions with a series of alkenes are described. The o-carboranyl substituent is bonded via one of the cluster carbon atoms to the boron atom of the 9-borafluorene moiety. In all cases, the reactions afford partly saturated analogs of borepins (i.e. 6,7-dihydroborepins) by unprecedented alkene insertion into the endocyclic B–C bond of the borole ring. Comparative studies with 9-bromo-9-borafluorene illustrate the superior insertion reactivity of the carboranyl-substituted derivative. A suite of experimental and computational techniques disclose the unique properties of the 9-borafluorene and provide insight into how the 9-carboranyl substituent affects its chemical reactivity.

A 9-carboranyl-substituted 9-borafluorene is reported, which is capable of undergoing efficient ring expansion to 6,7-dihydroborepins by a previously unknown alkene insertion.     

手性大孔磷酸镓Hit-5的水热合成与晶体结构

本文采用水热合成法制备了一个三维手性大孔开放骨架磷酸镓Ga16P16O75·4[1,6-C6H18N2]·[C2H10N2]·2H2O(简称Hit-5).反应起始原料摩尔配比为:1 GaOOH:15 H3PO4:7.5 H2N(CH2)6NH2:0.5 C2H8N2:555 H2O.Hit-5属正交晶系,P21212空间群,晶胞参数:a=0.8671(1)nm,b=1.7945(1)nm,c=0.9101(1)nm,β=108.33(1)°,V=1.3443(2)nm3,Z=4.Hit-5的骨架是由Ga3P3六聚体和Ga4P4八聚体两个不同的二级结构单元通过共顶点联接构成三维纳米孔结构,在[001]方向呈现16-元环孔道.     

The Extracts of Polygonum cuspidatum Root and Rhizome Block the Entry of SARS-CoV-2 Wild-Type and Omicron Pseudotyped Viruses via Inhibition of the S-Protein and 3CL Protease

COVID-19, resulting from infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, caused a contagious pandemic. Even with the current vaccines, there is still an urgent need to develop effective pharmacological treatments against this deadly disease. Here, we show that the water and ethanol extracts of the root and rhizome of Polygonum cuspidatum (Polygoni Cuspidati Rhizoma et Radix), a common Chinese herbal medicine, blocked the entry of wild-type and the omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 pseudotyped virus into fibroblasts or zebrafish larvae, with IC₅₀ values ranging from 0.015 to 0.04 mg/mL. The extracts were shown to inhibit various aspects of the pseudovirus entry, including the interaction between the spike protein (S-protein) and the angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE2) receptor, and the 3CL protease activity. Out of the chemical compounds tested in this report, gallic acid, a phytochemical in P. cuspidatum, was shown to have a significant anti-viral effect. Therefore, this might be responsible, at least in part, for the anti-viral efficacy of the herbal extract. Together, our data suggest that the extracts of P. cuspidatum inhibit the entry of wild-type and the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, and so they could be considered as potent treatments against COVID-19.     

Successive Deprotonation Steering the Structural Evolution of Supramolecular Assemblies on Ag(111)

In this study, we demonstrate the structural evolution of a two-dimensional (2D) supramolecular assembly system, which is steered by the thermally activated deprotonation of the primary organic building blocks on a Ag(111) surface. Scanning tunneling microscopy revealed that a variety of structures, featuring distinct structural, chiral, and intermolecular bonding characters, emerged with the gradual thermal treatments. According to our structural analysis, in combination with density function theory calculations, the structural evolution can be attributed to the successive deprotonation of the organic building blocks due to the inductive effect. Our finding offers a facile strategy towards controlling the supramolecular assembly pathways and provides a comprehensive understanding of the 2D crystal engineering on surfaces.     

金属异质波导阵列中的表面等离激元传播特性

提出了一种新的一维金属异质波导阵列的设计方案,即波导芯区周期调制的金属波导阵列.数值模拟的结果表明,金属波导芯区的周期调制引起波导中传播的表面等离激元有效折射率的周期调制,从而可在特定的波段打开一个表面等离激元带隙(如1550nm附近).通过引入合适的缺陷波导单元,可获得特定波长的高品质因子(Q=556)的表面电磁模共振.这一结果可用于设计亚波长的布拉格反射器、光发射器、滤波器等,有可能被用于未来的集成光路.