Ni基乙烷脱氢催化剂的性能及其改进

过渡金属Ni是地球上储量丰富的金属元素, 在加氢脱硫、重整制氢等催化领域应用非常广泛, 但是关于Ni基催化剂在烷烃脱氢方面的研究较少; 因此, 本工作采用不同的方法, 制备了三种结构的Ni基负载催化剂, 即尖晶石分解型、浸渍型和钙钛矿析出型, 并在700 ℃、C₂H₆-N₂气氛中和50 mL•min^-1气体流速下, 探索了它们的乙烷脱氢性能. 结果表明: 尖晶石分解型催化剂Ni_1-xCu_xCr₂O₄还原后在Cr₂O₃表面形成Ni-Cu合金颗粒, 能有效钝化Ni的C—C键断裂活性, 提高乙烯的选择性. Ni含量过高时, Ni不能有效地分散而形成大的金属团簇, 造成乙烷过度裂解, 乙烯选择性较低. 浸渍负载型催化剂Ni_xM_y/Al₂O₃ (M为Cu或Ag) 比表面积大, 表面活性位点分散, 但活性金属与载体结合力弱, 在高温下不稳定; Cu或Ag与Ni形成合金, 可有效提高乙烯选择性, Ag较Cu的效果更佳. 钙钛矿析出型催化剂LaCr_1-xNi_xO₃(LCNi-100x)在还原气氛中析出均匀细小的Ni颗粒, 其与基体结合力强, 抗积碳性能和稳定性较高; 含15% Ni的LCNi-15还原后(R-LCNi-15)表现出最好的催化性能, 乙烯产率最高(24%), 同时具有较好的抗积碳性能和稳定性以及氧化再生性.     

金属-有机框架HKUST-1膜在气体分离中研究进展※

发展高效、绿色且节能的物质分离与纯化技术具有重要意义, 气体分离更是在工业、能源、医疗及科技等领域有着广泛的应用. 传统的聚合物膜在实现高效气体分离方面还面临许多挑战, 新型分离膜材料的开发是当前研究热点和难点. 金属-有机框架(Metal-Organic Frameworks, MOFs)材料作为一种新兴多孔配位聚合物, 由于其具有独特可设计的拓扑结构以及可调节的功能而受到科学家们的广泛关注. 为了克服粉体或块体MOFs很难被高效用于气体分离的难题, 开发可用于分离的MOFs膜材料是一项具有重要意义且具有挑战性的任务. HKUST-1作为一种代表性的MOFs材料, 由于其结构稳定且原料经济并具有多级孔径的结构, 常被用作制备成膜材料用于气体分离的研究和实际应用. 总结了近十年HKUST-1膜的制备方法及其气体分离性能的研究进展, 并对这个方向的研究提出了自己的看法和展望.     

单斜ZnP2负极材料的锂化机理及性能

过渡金属磷化物电位低且比容量高, 是有发展前景的锂离子电池(LIBs)负极材料. 其中, ZnP₂属于双活性负极材料, Zn与P都能与Li⁺发生反应, 储Li⁺性能更具有竞争力. 但是, 对于ZnP₂的锂化机理及产物尚不明确. 采用第一性原理计算和电化学测试方法研究了ZnP₂的电子性质和电化学性能, 通过理论计算和实验测试相结合阐述了ZnP₂的锂化机制. 首先, 以密度泛函理论(DFT)计算揭示了ZnP₂的锂化机理、Li⁺扩散路径、势垒和理论比容量(1477 mAh/g). 其次, 通过直流电弧等离子体法及固相烧结法合成ZnP₂, 并测试其首圈放电曲线, 显示放电容量为1439 mAh/g, 与理论计算结果相近. 此外, 薄膜X射线衍射(XRD)检测最终产物成分为LiZn和Li₃P, 与DFT计算结果一致.     

Robust nickel silicate catalysts with high Ni loading for CO2 methanation

CO₂ is the main component of greenhouse gases and also an important carbon source. The hydrogenation of CO₂ to methane using Ni-based catalysts can not only alleviate CO₂ emissions but also obtain useful fuels. However, Ni-based catalysts face one major problem of the sintering of Ni nanoparticles in the process of CO₂ methanation. Thus, this work has synthesized a series of efficient and robust nickel silicate catalysts (NiPS−X) with different nickel content derived from nickel phyllosilicate by the hydrothermal method. It was found that the Ni loading plays a critical role in the structure and catalytic performance of the NiPS−X catalysts. The catalytic performance gradually increases with the increase of Ni loading. In particular, the highly dispersed NiPS-1.6 catalyst with a high Ni loading of 34.3 wt% could obtain the CO₂ conversion greater than 80%, and the methane selectivity was close to 100% for 48 h at 330 °C and the GHSV of 40,000 mL g⁻¹ h⁻¹. The excellent catalytic property can be assigned to the high dispersion of Ni nanoparticles and the strong interaction between the active component and the carrier, which is derived from a unique layered silicate structure with lots of nickel phyllosilicate and a large number of Lewis acid sites.     

BODIPY-based Fluorescent Probe for Fast Detection of Hydrogen Sulfide and Lysosome-targeting Applications in Living Cells

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is recognized as an endogenous gaseous signaling agent in many biological activities. Lysosomes are the main metabolic site and play a pivotal role in cells. Herein, we designed and synthesized two new fluorescent probes BDP-DNBS and BDP-DNP with a BODIPY core to distinguish H₂S. The sensing mechanism is based on the inhibition-recovery of the photo-induced electron transfer (PET) process. Through comparing the responsive behaviors of the two probes toward H₂S, BDP-DNBS showed a fast response time (60 s), low limit of detection (LOD, 51 nM), high sensitivity and selectivity. Moreover, the reaction mechanism was demonstrated by mass spectrometry and fluorescence off-on mechanism was proved by density functional theory (DFT). Significantly, confocal fluorescence imaging indicated that BDP-DNBS was successfully used to visualize H₂S in lysosomes in living HeLa cells.     

Facile Surfactant-, Reductant-, and Ag Salt-free Growth of Ag Nanoparticles with Controllable Size from 35 to 660 nm on Bulk Ag Materials

Morphologically and dimensionally controlled growth of Ag nanocrystals has long been plagued by surfactants or capping agents that complicate downstream applications, unstable Ag salts that impaired the reproducibility, and multistep seed injection that is troublesome and time-consuming. Here, we report a one-pot electro-chemical method to fast (∼2 min) produce Ag nanoparticles from commercial bulk Ag materials in a nitric acid solution, eliminating any need for surfactants or capping agents. Their size can be easily manipulated in an unprecedentedly wide range from 35 to 660 nm. Furthermore, the Ag nanoparticles are directly grown on the Ag substrate, highly desirable for promising applications such as catalysis and plasmonics. The mechanistic studies reveal that the concentration of Ag⁺ in the diffusion layer nearby the surface, controlled by the magnitude and duration of voltage, is critical in governing the nanoparticle formation (<1.3 mM) and its dimensional adjustability.     

Ultrasensitive small molecule fluorogenic probe for human heparanase

Heparanase (HPA) is a critical enzyme involved in the remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM), and its elevated expression has been linked with diseases such as various types of cancer and inflammation. The detection of heparanase enzymatic activity holds tremendous value in the study of the cellular microenvironment, and search of molecular therapeutics targeting heparanase, however, no structurally defined probes are available for the detection of heparanase activity. Here we present the development of the first ultrasensitive fluorogenic small-molecule probe for heparanase enzymatic activity via tuning the electronic effect of the substrate. The probe exhibits a 756-fold fluorescence turn-on response in the presence of human heparanase, allowing one-step detection of heparanase activity in real-time with a picomolar detection limit. The high sensitivity and robustness of the probe are exemplified in a high-throughput screening assay for heparanase inhibitors.

Heparanase, a critical enzyme involved in the remodeling of the extracellular matrix, activates a disaccharide probe HADP to give a strong fluorescence signal.     

Discovery of novel 3-{[(5,5-dimethyl-4,5-dihydroisoxazol-3-yl)sulfonyl]methyl}benzo[d]isoxazole analogs as promising very long chain fatty acids inhibitors

Very long chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) are one of the most principal and promising targets for herbicides discovery. In order to explore and find novel VLCFAs inhibitors with higher herbicidal activity and improved crop safety, a variety of new 3-{[(5,5-dimethyl-4,5-dihydroisoxazol-3-yl)sulfonyl]methyl}benzo[d]isoxazole derivatives were reasonably designed and synthesized. The results of greenhouse experiments indicated that several compounds exhibited good herbicidal activity against Digitaria sanguinalis, Echinochloa crus-galli, and Setaria faberii at rates of 150 g ai/ha. Compounds g4 and h1 displayed promising herbicidal activity against D sanguinalis and E crus-galli at rates of 75 g ai/ha, which is better than commercial pyroxasulfone and S-metolachlor. Moreover, compound h1 displayed higher activity against E crus-galli, D sanguinalis, and S faberii than pyroxasulfone and S-metolachlor even at a rate of 37.5 and 18.75 g ai/ha. Furthermore, both of the compounds g4 and h1 were much safer to these tested crops, especially to rice, wheat and rape, at the rate of 150 g ai/ha than pyroxasulfone. Therefore, h1 may act as a new lead structure for novel herbicides discovery.     

Selective Catalytic Isomerization of β-Pinene Oxide to Perillyl Alcohol Enhanced by Protic Tetraimidazolium Nitrate

A series of tetraimidazolium salts with different anions was prepared and applied in the isomerization of β-pinene oxide. After examining the activity of different catalysts, a remarkable enhancement of the selectivity of perillyl alcohol (47 %) was obtained over [PEimi][HNO₃]₄ under mild reaction conditions and using DMSO as the solvent. Furthermore, noncovalent interactions between solvent molecules and the catalyst were found by FT-IR spectroscopy and confirmed by computational chemistry. The homogeneous catalyst showed excellent stability and was reused up to six times without significant loss.     

Conformational Selection Mechanism Provides Structural Insights into the Optimization of APC-Asef Inhibitors

Metastasis is the major cause of death in colorectal cancer and it has been proven that inhibiting an interaction between adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) and Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 4 (Asef) efficaciously restrain metastasis. However, current inhibitors cannot achieve a satisfying effect in vivo and need to be optimized. In the present study, we applied molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and extensive analyses to apo and holo APC systems in order to reveal the inhibitor mechanism in detail and provide insights into optimization. MD simulations suggested that apo APC takes on a broad array of conformations and inhibitors stabilize conformation selectively. Representative structures in trajectories show specific APC-ligand interactions, explaining the different binding process. The stability and dynamic properties of systems elucidate the inherent factors of the conformation selection mechanism. Binding free energy analysis quantitatively confirms key interface residues and guide optimization. This study elucidates the conformation selection mechanism in APC-Asef inhibition and provides insights into peptide-based drug design.