Size-controllable carbon spheres doped Ni (II) for enhancing the catalytic oxidation of methanol

Ni(II)/CSs were prepared using a simple two-step hydrothermal method. The morphology and composition of the catalysts were studied with scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, and X-ray diffraction. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that the surface of the prepared carbon spheres was rich in hydroxyl groups, which was beneficial to remove CO intermediates, and therefore, improving the catalytic efficiency and the antipoisoning ability of the catalysts. The results of cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry showed that the electrocatalytic activity and stability of Ni(II)/CSs were higher than that of unloaded NiAc under alkaline environment. When the nickel content was 5 wt.%, the peak oxidation current density of methanol on Ni(II)/CSs electrocatalyst reached the maximum of 34.54 mA/cm², which was about 1.8 times that of unloaded NiAc. These results indicate that Ni(II)/CSs has potential applications in the electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol.     

Prodigiosin of Serratia marcescens ZPG19 Alters the Gut Microbiota Composition of Kunming Mice

Prodigiosin is a red pigment produced by Serratia marcescens with anticancer, antimalarial, and antibacterial effects. In this study, we extracted and identified a red pigment from a culture of S. marcescens strain ZPG19 and investigated its effect on the growth performance and intestinal microbiota of Kunming mice. High-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry revealed that the pigment had a mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) of 324.2160, and thus it was identified as prodigiosin. To investigate the effect of prodigiosin on the intestinal microbiota, mice (n = 5) were administered 150 μg/kg/d prodigiosin (crude extract, 95% purity) via the drinking water for 18 days. Administration of prodigiosin did not cause toxicity in mice. High-throughput sequencing analysis revealed that prodigiosin altered the cecum microbiota abundance and diversity; the relative abundance of Desulfovibrio significantly decreased, whereas Lactobacillus reuteri significantly increased. This finding indicates that oral administration of prodigiosin has a beneficial effect on the intestinal microbiota of mice. As prodigiosin is non-toxic to mouse internal organs and improves the mouse intestinal microbiota, we suggest that it is a promising candidate drug to treat intestinal inflammation.     

Synergistic Effect of Boron Nitride and Carbon Domains in Boron Carbide Nitride Nanotube Supported Single-Atom Catalysts for Efficient Nitrogen Fixation

Developing the low-cost and efficient single-atom catalysts (SACs) for nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) is of great importance while remains as a great challenge. The catalytic activity, selectivity and durability are all fundamentally related to the elaborate coordination environment of SACs. Using first-principles calculations, we investigated the SACs with single transition metal (TM) atom supported on defective boron carbide nitride nanotubes (BCNTs) as NRR electrocatalysts. Our results suggest that boron-vacancy defects on BCNTs can strongly immobilize TM atoms with large enough binding energy and high thermal/structural stability. Importantly, the synergistic effect of boron nitride (BN) and carbon domains comes up with the modifications of the charge polarization of single-TM-atom active site and the electronic properties of material, which has been proven to be the essential key to promote N₂ adsorption, activation, and reduction. Specifically, six SACs (namely V, Mn, Fe, Mo, Ru, and W atoms embedded into defective BCNTs) can be used as promising candidates for NRR electrocatalysts as their NRR activity is higher than the state-of-the art Ru(0001) catalyst. In particular, single Mo atom supported on defective BCNTs with large tube diameter possesses the highest NRR activity while suppressing the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction, with a low limiting potential of −0.62 V via associative distal path. This work suggests new opportunities for driving NH₃ production by carbon-based single-atom electrocatalysts under ambient conditions.     

Interaction of Hydrogen with Ceria: Hydroxylation,Reduction, and Hydride Formation on the Surface and in the Bulk

The study reports the first attempt to address the interplay between surface and bulk in hydride formation in ceria (CeO₂) by combining experiment, using surface sensitive and bulk sensitive spectroscopic techniques on the two sample systems, i.e., CeO₂(111) thin films and CeO₂ powders, and theoretical calculations of CeO₂(111) surfaces with oxygen vacancies (O_v) at the surface and in the bulk. We show that, on a stoichiometric CeO₂(111) surface, H₂ dissociates and forms surface hydroxyls (OH). On the pre-reduced CeO_2−x samples, both films and powders, hydroxyls and hydrides (Ce−H) are formed on the surface as well as in the bulk, accompanied by the Ce³⁺ ↔ Ce⁴⁺ redox reaction. As the O_v concentration increases, hydroxyl is destabilized and hydride becomes more stable. Surface hydroxyl is more stable than bulk hydroxyl, whereas bulk hydride is more stable than surface hydride. The surface hydride formation is the kinetically favorable process at relatively low temperatures, and the resulting surface hydride may diffuse into the bulk region and be stabilized therein. At higher temperatures, surface hydroxyls can react to produce water and create additional oxygen vacancies, increasing its concentration, which controls the H₂/CeO₂ interaction. The results demonstrate a large diversity of reaction pathways, which have to be taken into account for better understanding of reactivity of ceria-based catalysts in a hydrogen-rich atmosphere.     

Multi-Channel Optical Device for Solar-Driven Bacterial Inactivation under Real-Time Temperature Feedback

Solar-driven photothermal antibacterial devices have attracted a lot of interest due to the fact that solar energy is one of the cleanest sources of energy in the world. However, conventional materials have a narrow absorbance band, resulting in deficient solar harvesting. In addition, lack of knowledge on temperature change in these devices during the photothermal process has also led to a waste of energy. Here, we presented an elegant multi-channel optical device with a multilayer structure to simultaneously address the above-mentioned issues in solar-driven antibacterial devices. In the photothermal channel, semiconductor IrO₂-nanoaggregates exhibited higher solar absorbance and photothermal conversion efficiency compared with nanoparticles. In the luminescence channel, thermal-sensitive Er-doped upconversion nanoparticles were utilized to reflect the microscale temperature in real-time. The bacteria were successfully inactivated during the photothermal effect under solar irradiation with temperature monitoring. This study could provide valuable insight for the development of smart photothermal devices for solar-driven photothermal bacterial inactivation in the future.     

化学学科核心素养在高中教材习题中的表现—以人教版教材为例

教材习题是落实新课标倡导的基于化学学科核心素养进行评价的重要载体。以化学学科核心素养的水平划分和学业质量水平为依据,分析人教版高中必修化学教材课后习题考查的核心素养及其水平。结果表明,2007年版和2019年版教材均注重全面考查核心素养和对基础性的考查,突出考查宏观辨识与微观探析素养,突出化学本质;但2019年版教材习题在数量上有所减少,加强了科学思维和科学实践的考查,合理拓展了核心素养考查的广度和深度。最后,依据习题特征获得相应的教学启示,以促进学生核心素养的发展。     

Structures and magnetic and electronic properties of the O2-adsorbed Fe2N clusters

Structural Chemistry - The surface of iron nitrides prefers to be oxidized in the air, which reduces the cycling stability of the supercapacitors. The configurations and electronic and magnetic...     

噻吩基和呋喃基四硫富瓦烯的合成及电化学性质

提供了一种合成噻吩基和呋喃基四硫富有瓦烯（ＴＴＦ）的方法，并用其合成了３种未见文献报道的噻吩基ＴＴＦ（Ⅶａ，Ⅷｂ，Ⅶｃ）和２种呋喃基ＴＴＦ（Ⅶｄ１，Ⅶｄ２）研究这些化合物的循环伏安行为及有关电化学性质，制得了一种Ⅶｂ与ＴＣＮＱ反应生成的电荷转移络合物，讨论了噻吩基ＴＴＦ和呋喃基ＴＴＦ在产物构型和电化学性质方面的差别。     

1-芳酰基-4-取代吡唑甲酰基氨基硫脲和环化产物的合成及生物活性

利用1-苯基-3-甲基-5-氯-4-吡唑甲酰基异硫氰酸酯(Ⅰ)与芳酰肼(Ⅱ)的加成反应合成了系列新的酰胺基硫脲衍生物(Ⅲ),并将Ⅲ在酸性条件下进行环化反应得到2-取代吡唑甲酰基氨基-5-芳基-1,3,4-噻二唑(Ⅳ).生物活性测定结果表明部分化合物Ⅲ和Ⅳ具有较好的除草活性.     

Flow injection analysis methods for determination of diffusion coefficients

Two flow injection analyses (FIA) methods for the determination of diffusion coefficients in a straight single tube FIA system were developed. Based on the analytical solution of the convection-diffusion equation, linear relationships of the logarithmic values of the dispersion coefficient (D) and the half-peak width (W_1/2) with the diffusion coefficient (D_m) were obtained. Experiments were designed to verify these methods. For example, for potassium hexacyanoferrate (III) a D_m value of 0.72 × 10⁵ cm² s⁻¹ was found versus a literature value of 0.76 × 10⁵ cm² s⁻¹ (error, 5%). For potassium hexacyanoferrate (II) a D_m value of 0.67 × 10⁵ cm² s⁻¹ was obtained versus a literature value of 0.63 × 10⁵ cm² s⁻¹ (error, 6%). The diffusion coefficients of some important biomedical compounds, such as dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine and ascorbic acid, were then determined. The values of 10⁵ D_m/cm² s⁻¹ are 0.60 ± 0.03, 0.44 ± 0.02, 0.60 ± 0.01 and 0.68 ± 0.06, respectively.