M@B<Subscript>9</Subscript> and M@B<Subscript>10</Subscript> molecular wheels containing planar nona- and deca-coordinate heavy group 11, 12, and 13 metals (M=Ag,Au, Cd,Hg, In,Tl)

A density functional and ab initio theory investigation on M@B₉ and M@B₁₀ molecular wheels containing planar nona- and deca-coordinate heavy group 11, 12 and 13 metals (M=Ag, Au, Cd, Hg, In, Ti) has been performed. These unusual clusters all prove to be true minima on the potential energy surfaces of the systems and σ+π double aromatic in nature. The first two vertical one-electron detachment energies of M@B₁₀⁻ (M=Ag, Au) anions and first two ionization potentials of M@B₉ (M=Ag, Au) and M@B₁₀ (M=Cd, Hg) neutrals were calculated to aid future experiments. The cluster complexes designed in this work may expend the domain of planar hyper-coordinate elements to include heavy group 11, 12, and 13 metals and serve as interesting candidates to be targeted in experiments. Electronic Supplementary Material  Supplementary material is available for this article at and is accessible for authorized users. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20873117)     

Analysis of viscosity abnormalities of polyelectrolytes in dilute solutions

It was found that the interface effects in viscous capillary flow influenced the process of viscosity measurement greatly,and the abnormal viscosity behaviors of polyelectrolytes as well as neutral polymers in dilute solution region were ascribed to interface effect.According to this theory,we have reviewed the previous viscosity data of derivatives of poly-2- vinylpyridine reported by Maclay and Fuoss first.Then,the abnormal viscosity behaviors of a series of sodium polystyrene sulfonate samples with various molecular weights in dilute aqueous solutions were studied further.The solute adsorption behaviors and structural information of polymers have been discussed carefully.     

Guanidine-based task-specific ionic liquids as catalysts for aza-Michael addition under solvent-free conditions

An efficient and facile protocol for aza-Michael addition of aliphatic and aromatic amines to electron-deficit alkenes using [TMG][Lac] as catalyst under solvent-free conditions was established.     

Self-supported metal sulphide nanocrystals-assembled nanosheets on carbon paper as efficient counter electrodes for quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells

Developing efficient counter electrodes (CEs) and quantum dots made of earth-abundant and non-toxic elements is essential but still challenging for quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). Here, we report a facile strategy to prepare self-supported and robust CoS₂ and NiS nanocrystals-assembled nanosheets directly grown on carbon paper (MSx NS@CP) as efficient counter electrodes for QDSSCs. Such CEs integrate the merits of fast electron transfer from interconnected conductive scaffold, efficient mass transfer from hierarchically vertical nanosheet on 3D open substrate, as well as abundant highly active catalytic sites from metal sulphide nanocrystal units. As a result, QDDSCs based on such CoS₂ NS@CP and NiS NS@CP CEs achieve a PCE of 8.88% and 7.53%, respectively. The detailed analyses suggest that CoS₂ NS@CP has the highest catalytic activity and shows the lowest charger transfer resistance, leading to the highest PCE. These findings may inspire the design and exploration of other self-supported efficient CEs by integrating highly active catalysts onto 3D conductive networks for efficient QDSSCs.     

Gap Space Optimization for NO Removal in a Non‐thermal Plasma Discharge

Given the operational constraints of aerospace ground equipments (AGE), the nonthermal plasma discharge (NTPD) has been identified as a promising technology for their NO_x removal. As part of a program to optimize an NTPD system for this particular application, an investigation of the effect of discharge gap spacing on the electrical and chemical processes that occur in NTPDs was initiated. A number of experiments were performed to examine how the gap spacing affects the NO removal efficiency, discharge characteristics, and chemical reactions in a NTPD device. Gap spacings ranging from 0.8 to 4.0 mm were investigated in this study. An optimum gap spacing for NO removal was observed at approximately 2 mm and, based on the experimental data, a physical explanation for the optimum was developed. The experiments, results and conclusions are discusssed in detail in this paper.     

Quantum chemical study on the abstraction reaction of alkylidenegermylene with oxirane and thiirane

The mechanisms of theion reaction of alkylidenegermylene with oxirane and thiirane have been characterized detail in using density functional theory, as well as ab initio method, including geometry optimization and vibrational analysis for the involved stationary points on the potential energy surface. Energies were calculated by CCSD(T)/6-311G(d)//B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) method for the involved conformations. The results show that the reaction pathways for both reactions consist of two ways: (1) the reactants can yield bent products (P1; P4) by syn-isomers; (2) the reactants can also yield three-membered products (P2; P5) by anti-isomers, which then further react with oxirane and thiirane to form the ultimate products (P3-1, P3-2; P6). Furthermore, a comparison with alkylidenecarbene, oxirane, and thiirane was done.