碱性电解液中K3[Fe(CN)6]在锌阳极上的自发还原和吸附延长锌镍电池的循环寿命

In view of the continuously worsening environmental problems, fossil fuels will not be able to support the development of human life in the future. Hence, it is of great importance to work on the efficient utilization of cleaner energy resources. In this case, cheap, reliable, and eco-friendly grid-scale energy storage systems can play a key role in optimizing our energy usage. When compared with lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries, the excellent safety, environmental benignity, and low toxicity of aqueous Zn-based batteries make them competitive in the context of large-scale energy storage. Among the various Zn-based batteries, due to a high open-circuit voltage and excellent rate performance, Zn-Ni batteries have great potential in practical applications. Nevertheless, the intrinsic obstacles associated with the use of Zn anodes in alkaline electrolytes, such as dendrite, shape change, passivation, and corrosion, limit their commercial application. Hence, we have focused our current efforts on inhibiting the corrosion and dissolution of Zn species. Based on a previous study from our research group, the failure of the Zn-Ni battery was caused by the shape change of the Zn anode, which stemmed from the dissolution of Zn and uneven current distribution on the anode. Therefore, for the current study, we selected K₃[Fe(CN)₆] as an electrolyte additive that would help minimize the corrosion and dissolution of the Zn anode. In the alkaline electrolyte, [Fe(CN)₆]^3– was reduced to [Fe(CN)₆]^4– by the metallic Zn present in the Zn-Ni battery. Owing to its low solubility in the electrolyte, K₄[Fe(CN)₆] adhered to the active Zn anode, thereby inhibiting the aggregation and corrosion of Zn. Ultimately, the shape change of the anode was effectively eliminated, which improved the cycling life of the Zn-Ni battery by more than three times (i.e., from 124 cycles to more than 423 cycles). As for capacity retention, the Zn-Ni battery with the pristine electrolyte only exhibited 40% capacity retention after 85 cycles, while the Zn-Ni battery with the modified electrolyte (i.e., containing K₃[Fe(CN)₆]) showed 72% capacity retention. Moreover, unlike conventional organic additives that increase electrode polarization, the addition of K₃[Fe(CN)₆] not only significantly reduced the charge-transfer resistance in a simplified three-electrode system, but also improved the discharge capacity and rate performance of the Zn-Ni battery. Importantly, considering that this strategy was easy to achieve and minimized additional costs, K₃[Fe(CN)₆], as an electrolyte additive with almost no negative effect, has tremendous potential in commercial Zn-Ni batteries.     

Steric,Electronic and Conformational Synergistic Effects in the Gold(I)-catalyzed α-C−H Bond Functionalization of Tertiary Amines**

Direct C−H bond functionalization is a useful strategy for the straightforward formation of C−C and C−Heteroatom bonds. In the present work, a unique approach for the challenging electrophilic Au-catalyzed α-C−H bond functionalization of tertiary amines is presented. Electronic, steric and conformational synergistic effects exerted by the use of a malonate unit in the substrate were key to the success of this transformation. This new reactivity was applied to the synthesis of tetrahydro-γ-carboline products which, under oxidative conditions, could be converted into valuable structural motifs found in bioactive alkaloid natural products.     

Generation and Stabilization of a Dinickel Catalyst in a Metal-Organic Framework for Selective Hydrogenation Reactions

Although many monometallic active sites have been installed in metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) for catalytic reactions, there are no effective strategies to generate bimetallic catalysts in MOFs. Here we report the synthesis of a robust, efficient, and reusable MOF catalyst, MOF-NiH, by adaptively generating and stabilizing dinickel active sites using the bipyridine groups in MOF-253 with the formula of Al(OH)(2,2′-bipyridine-5,5′-dicarboxylate) for Z-selective semihydrogenation of alkynes and selective hydrogenation of C=C bonds in α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones. Spectroscopic studies established the dinickel complex (bpy⋅⁻)Ni^II(μ₂-H)₂Ni^II(bpy⋅⁻) as the active catalyst. MOF-NiH efficiently catalyzed selective hydrogenation reactions with turnover numbers of up to 192 and could be used in five cycles of hydrogenation reactions without catalyst leaching or significant decrease of catalytic activities. The present work uncovers a synthetic strategy toward solution-inaccessible Earth-abundant bimetallic MOF catalysts for sustainable catalysis.     

Direct Electrochemistry of Hemoglobin and Its Electrocatalysis Based on Hyaluronic Acid and Room Temperature Ionic Liquid

A biocomposite material of hyaluronic acid (HA) and room temperature ionic liquid, 1‐butyl‐3‐methyl‐imidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIMBF₄) was fabricated and characterized by voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Hemoglobin (Hb), as a model protein, was immobilized in this biocomposite on glassy carbon electrode to investigate its direct electrochemistry. A pair of well‐defined, quasireversible cyclic voltammetric peaks appeared with the formal potentials (E°′) at ?0.360 V (vs. SCE). The Hb modified electrode exhibited an excellent electrocatalytic activity to the reduction of H₂O₂ with a wide linear range, good selectivity, sensitivity and reproducibility, which had potential application to fabrication the third‐generation biosensor.     

Structure of an accurate ab initio model of the aqueous Na+ ion at high temperatures

The structure of an accurate ab initio model of aqueous sodium ion was calculated at two high temperature state points (573 K, 0.72 g/cm(3) and 723 K, 0.0098 g/cm(3)) by a two-step procedure. First, the structure of an approximate model (the TIP4-FQ model for water and Na-H2O interactions from Liu et al.) was calculated from a molecular dynamics simulation of the model. Then the difference between the structure of the ab initio model and the approximate model was calculated by non-Boltzmann weighting of a sample of 500 configurations taken from the approximate model simulation. Radial distribution functions, average coordination numbers, the distribution of coordination numbers, and an analysis of orientations of water in the first coordination shell are reported for both state points. The average oxygen coordination number (calculated up to the inflection point in the running coordination number) was 4.71 at 573 K and 3.48 at 723 K. Most configurations have four or five coordinated waters at 573 K and three or four at 723 K. At 723 K, waters with their dipole moments pointed at the sodium ion were most common. A wider variety of orientations was found at 573 K and higher density. The difference in structure between the approximate and quantum models was small but significant.     

High photocatalytic activity and stability for decomposition of gaseous acetaldehyde on TiO2/Al2O3 composite films coated on foam nickel substrates by sol-gel processes

A set of anatase titanium dioxide (TiO₂) films coated on foam nickel that modified by Al₂O₃ films as transition layer (indicated as TiO₂/Al₂O₃ films) were synthesized via sol-gel route. The bulk and surface properties of the TiO₂/Al₂O₃ films were characterized by thermal gravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), and BET. The photocatalytic activities of TiO₂/Al₂O₃ films were investigated based on the degradation of gaseous acetaldehyde under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. The foam nickel is a promising substrate material in practical applications because of its excellent hydrodynamic properties for gas passing. The TiO₂/Al₂O₃ composite films showed much higher photocatalytic activity and stability for degradation of gaseous acetaldehyde than the onefold TiO₂ films. The significant enhancement in photocatalytic activity and stability can be ascribed to the coating of Al₂O₃ transition layer, which concentrates the target substances around TiO₂ particles and increases the specific surface area (SSA) of the substrate (the SSAs of bare foam nickel and Al₂O₃ modified foam nickel are 0.12 and 113.7 m²/g, respectively) to provide more sites for TiO₂ loading.     

Nanoscale coordination polymers for platinum-based anticancer drug delivery

Pt-containing nanoscale coordination polymer (NCP) particles with the formula of Tb2(DSCP)3(H2O)12 (where DSCP represents disuccinatocisplatin), NCP-1, were precipitated from an aqueous solution of Tb3+ ions and DSCP bridging ligands via the addition of a poor solvent. SEM and TEM images showed that as-synthesized NCP-1 exhibited a spherical morphology with a DLS diameter of 58.3 +/- 11.3 nm. NCP-1 particles were stabilized against rapid dissolution in water by encapsulation in shells of amorphous silica. The resulting silica-coated particles NCP-1' exhibited significantly longer half-lives for DSCP release from the particles (a t1/2 of 9 h for NCP-1' with 7 nm silica coating vs t1/2 of 1 h for as-synthesized NCP-1). In vitro cancer cell cytotoxicity assays with the human colon carcinoma cell line (HT-29) showed that internalized NCP-1' particles readily released the DSCP moieties which were presumably reduced to cytotoxic Pt(II) species to give the Pt-containing NCPs anticancer efficacy superior to the cisplatin standard. The generality of this degradable nanoparticle formulation should allow for the design of NCPs as effective delivery vehicles for a variety of biologically and medically important cargoes such as therapeutic and imaging agents.     

Hierarchically ordered homochiral metal-organic frameworks built from exceptionally large rectangles and squares

Hierarchically ordered homochiral metal-organic frameworks were built from the Cu(II) connecting point and the new (R)-6,6'-dichloro-2,2'-diethoxy-1,1'-binaphthyl-4,4'-bis(p-ethynylpyridine) bridging ligand (L). [Cu(3)L(4)(DMF)(6)(H(2)O)(3)(ClO(4))][ClO(4)](5).10DMF.10EtOH.7H(2)O (1) adopts a unique three-dimensional framework structure via simultaneous interlocking and interpenetration of one-dimensional ladders formed by linking rectangles of 24.8 x 48.6 A(2) in dimensions, whereas [Cu(3)L(5)(DMF)(8)][ClO(4)](6).6DMF.8EtOH.Et(2)O.6H(2)O (2) exhibits an interesting network topology by threading two-dimensional coordination square grids with one-dimensional coordination polymers.     

Efficient Visible-Light-Activated Ultra-Long Room-Temperature Phosphorescence Triggered by Multi-Esterification

The development of ultra-long room-temperature phosphorescence (UL-RTP) in processable amorphous organic materials is highly desirable for applications in flexible displays, anti-counterfeiting, and bio-imaging. However, achieving efficient UL-RTP from amorphous materials remains a challenging task, especially with activation by visible light and a bright afterglow. Here we report a general and rational molecular-design strategy to enable efficient visible-light-excited UL-RTP by multi-esterification of a rigid large-plane phosphorescence core. Notably, multi-esterification minimizes the aggregation-induced quenching and accomplishes a ′four birds with one stone′ possibility in the generation and radiation process of UL-RTP: i) shifting the excitation from ultraviolet light to blue-light through enhancing the transition dipole moment of low-lying singlet-states, ii) facilitating the intersystem crossing process through the incorporation of lone-pair electrons, iii) boosting the decay process of long-lived triplet excitons resulting from a significantly increased transition dipole moment, and iv) reducing the intrinsic triplet nonradiative decay by substitution of high-frequency vibrating hydrogen atoms. All these factors synergistically contribute to the most efficient and stable visible-light-stimulated UL-RTP (lifetime up to 2.01 s and efficiency up to 35.4 % upon excitation at 450 nm) in flexible films using multi-esterified coronene, which allows high-tech applications in single-component time-delayed white light-emitting diodes and information technology based on flashlight-activated afterglow encryption.     

高活性Cu/SiO2催化剂应用于丙二酸二乙酯加氢制1,3-丙二醇

作为聚对苯二甲酸丙二醇酯(PTT)的不可替代原料,1,3-丙二醇(1,3-PDO)广泛应用于聚酯、树脂、化妆品、润滑剂和制冷剂等领域.采用丙二酸二乙酯(DEM)一步加氢合成1,3-PDO可避免传统化学工艺中醛类副产物的生成和生物法中产品纯度不高的问题,进而满足下游PTT的品质要求. Cu/SiO2催化剂因铜与载体间的强相互作用以及硅胶的弱酸性有利于催化活性中心的建立而被广泛应用于气相加氢反应,可以选择性地活化C?O键而不活化C?C键.因此,本文将Cu/SiO2催化剂应用于DEM加氢反应,重点考察了焙烧温度对催化剂结构与性能影响的本质原因.
　　采用蒸氨法制备Cu/SiO2催化剂,将一定量氨水滴加到硝酸铜水溶液中形成铜氨溶液后滴加JN-30硅溶胶,经老化、过滤、洗涤、烘干、焙烧、压片成型后得到40?60目的催化剂.将不同温度(623?1023 K)焙烧的Cu/SiO2催化剂装填入自制连续高压固定床反应器中进行DEM加氢反应,并采用N2物理吸脱附、电感耦合等离子体发射光谱、N2O化学吸附、X射线衍射、傅里叶红外光谱、H2程序升温还原(TPR)、透射电镜及X射线光电子能谱等手段对不同温度焙烧催化剂进行表征.结果表明,在723 K焙烧的催化剂具有最大的比表面积和最均一的孔径分布,其铜组分分散均匀,活性铜表面积最大,焙烧后可以形成最多的页硅酸铜,导致还原后Cu+/Cu0比例较高.在该催化剂作用下,于473 K、2.0 MPa、氢酯摩尔比330和液体空速1.8 h–1条件下, DEM转化率为90.7%,1,3-PDO选择性为32.3%.
　　焙烧温度对Cu/SiO2催化剂组成、织构、结构、形貌及还原后的价态有较大影响.在焙烧温度为623?1023 K时,低温焙烧有利于生成页硅酸铜,而高温焙烧则有利于形成CuO.在焙烧温度升高的过程中,铜组分形态会发生较大变化,在623?723 K焙烧的催化剂中页硅酸铜含量不断增加;继续升高温度至823 K,页硅酸铜含量减少,但是分散变差,导致铜的比表面积、孔体积和孔径最小;进一步升高温度至923 K,页硅酸铜消失, CuO分散均匀, H2-TPR的还原峰窄且对称;当温度升高到1023 K时,铜晶体迅速长大而较难被还原.