Copper‐Bismuth Bimetallic Microspheres for Selective Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2 to Formate

Electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction holds great promise for reducing the atmospheric CO₂ level and alleviating the energy crisis. High‐performance electrocatalysts are often required in order to lower the high overpotential and expedite the sluggish reaction kinetics of CO₂ electroreduction. Copper is a promising candidate metal. However, it usually suffers from the issues of poor stability and low product selectivity. In this work, bimetallic Cu‐Bi is obtained by reducing the microspherical copper bismuthate (CuBi₂O₄) for selectively catalyzing the CO₂ reduction to formate (HCOO^–). The bimetallic Cu‐Bi electrocatalyst exhibits high activity and selectivity with the Faradic efficiency over 90% in a wide potential window. A maximum Faradaic efficiency of ~95% is obtained at –0.93 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode. Furthermore, the catalyst shows high stability over 6 h with Faradaic efficiency of ~95%. This study provides an important clue in designing new functional materials for CO₂ electroreduction with high activity and selectivity.     

A small molecule with osteogenesis-inducing activity in multipotent mesenchymal progenitor cells

Purmorphamine, which is a 2,6,9-trisubstituted purine compound, was discovered through cell-based high-throughput screening from a heterocycle combinatorial library. It differentiates multipotent mesenchymal progenitor cells into an osteoblast lineage. It will serve as a unique chemical tool to study the molecular mechanisms of osteogenesis of stem cells and bone development.     

无机盐对正负表面活性剂混合体系性质的影响

用滴体积法测定了四种离子强度下(μ=0.02, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2 mol·kg~(-1), 支持电解质为NaBr)C_(12)H_(25)SO_4Na/C_6H_(13)(NC_5H_5)Br混合体系在五种比例(10:1, 3:1, 1:1, 1:3, 1:10)时的临界胶团活度cma(25 ℃). 提出了无机盐对正负表面活性剂混合体系临界胶团活度的影响程度的计算式.     

Application of Liquid Crystalline NMR Solvents to a Mixture of Ketones

A series of dilute liquid crystalline solvents are used to study the effect of slight anisotropy caused by partial alignment on chemical shift and residual dipolar coupling (RDC) in small molecules. The residual dipolar couplings between protons in solutes are found to be almost independent of the local environment. It is also found that the chemical shift does not change over the concentration range observed. A linear relationship between residual dipolar coupling and liquid crystal concentration is observed at relatively low concentrations, but is severely violated at high concentrations.     

Investigation of the hydrogen bonds between formaldehyde and hydrogen halides by pseudopotential Ab Initio method

The weak hydrogen bonded systems H₂CO ?HX (X = F, Cl, Br, and I) have been studied by means of ab initio MO method with pseudopotential approximation. The stabilization energies of these hydrogen bonds are 8.96, 4.12, 3.00, and 2.21 kcal/mol, respectively. The interaction eneraction energies are farther decomposed according to Morokuma's energy decomposing scheme. It is found that the title complexes are mainly electrostatic, although the contribution of charge transfer is also significant.     

Classical Dynamics of H<Stack><Subscript>2</Subscript><Superscript>+</Superscript></Stack> in an Intense Laser Field by Using the Symplectic Method

The classical dynamics of 1D H₂⁺ in an intense field are discussed. The initial conditions are chosen at random in the field-free case, and then the Hamiltonian canonical equations of H₂⁺ system in the intense laser field are solved numerically by mean of the symplectic method under these initial conditions. The probabilities of survival, dissociation, ionization, and Coulomb explosion of H₂⁺ system in the intense laser field are obtained for different laser intensity based on the classical theory.     

Molecular assembly in synthesised hydrotalcites of formula Cu(x)Zn(6 - x)Al2(OH)16(CO3) x 4H2O--a vibrational spectroscopic study

Infrared and Raman spectroscopy have been used to characterise synthetic hydrotalcites of formula Cu(x)Zn(6 - x)Al2(OH)16(CO3) x 4H2O. The spectra have been used to assess the molecular assembly of the cations in the hydrotalcite structure. The spectra may be conveniently subdivided into spectral features based (a) upon the carbonate anion (b) the hydroxyl units (c) water units. The Raman spectra of the hydroxyl-stretching region enable bands to be assigned to the CuOH, ZnOH and AlOH units. It is proposed that in the hydrotalcites with minimal cationic replacement that the cations are arranged in a regular array. For the Cu(x)Zn(6 - x)Al2(OH)16(CO3) x 4H2O hydrotalcites, spectroscopic evidence suggests that 'islands' of cations are formed in the structure. In a similar fashion, the bands assigned to the interlayer water suggest that the water molecules are also in a regular well-structured arrangement. Bands are assigned to the hydroxyl stretching vibrations of water. Three types of water are identified (a) water hydrogen bonded to the interlayer carbonate ion (b) water hydrogen bonded to the hydrotalcite hydroxyl surface and (c) interlamellar water. It is proposed that the water is highly structured in the hydrotalcite as it is hydrogen bonded to both the carbonate anion and the hydroxyl surface.     

Preparation and characterization of nanoaggregates of poly(ethylene oxide)-b-polymethacrylate and poly-L-lysine

Poly(ethylene oxide)-b-polymethacrylate (PEO-b-PMA), one of the double-hydrophilic block copolymers, has proved to the form nanoaggregates with poly-L-lysine (PLS). This was confirmed by turbidimetry, zeta-potential measurements, and dynamic light scattering. The nanoaggregate formation is induced by electrostatic charge neutralization of the PMA block with PLS. The properties of the aggregates are affected by PLS concentration as well PEO-b-PMA concentration. The aggregates have potential applications in biomedical science.     

Theoretical study on structures and stability of C4P isomers

The structures, energetics, spectroscopies, and stabilities of doublet C(4)P isomeric species are explored at the DFT/B3LYP, QCISD, and CCSD(T) (singlet-point) levels. A total of 12 minimum isomers and 27 interconversion transition states are located. At the CCSD(T)/6-311G(2df)//QCISD/6-311G(d)+ZPVE level, the lowest-lying isomer is a floppy CCCCP 1 (0.0 kcal/mol) mainly featuring a cumulenic structure |C=C=C=C=P*|, which differs much from the analogous C4N radical (|*C-C[triple bond]C-C[triple bond]N|). The quasi-linearity and the low bending mode of 1 are in contrast to the previous prediction. The second energetically followed isomer PC-cCCC 3 (14.9 kcal/mol) possesses a CCC ring-bonded to CP. The two low-lying isomers are separated by a high-energy ring-closure/open transition state (26.5 kcal/mol) and thus are very promising candidates for future laboratory and astrophysical detection. Furthermore, four high-energy isomers, that is, two bent isomers CCPCC 2 (68.4 kcal/mol) and CCPCC 2' (68.5 kcal/mol) and two cagelike species 10 (56.0 kcal/mol) and 11 (67.9 kcal/mol), are also stabilized by considerable barriers. The present work is the first detailed potential energy survey of CnP clusters and can provide useful information for the investigation of larger CnP radicals and for understanding the isomerism of P-doped C vaporization processes.     

Ion-ion reactions for charge reduction of biopolymer at atmospheric pressure ambient

Extractive electrospray ionization source(EESI)was adapted for ion-ion reaction,which was demonstrated by using a linear quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer for the first ion-ion reaction of biopolymers in the atmospheric pressure ambient.