Trimetallic Au@PdPt core-shell nanoparticles with ultrathin PdPt skin as highly stable electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in acid solution

To design efficient and low-cost core-shell electrocatalysts with an ultrathin platinum shell, the balance between platinum dosage and durability in acid solution is of great importance. In the present work, trimetallic Au@PdPt core-shell nanoparticles(NPs)with Pd/Pt molar ratios ranging from 0.31:1 to 4.20:1 were synthesized based on the Au catalytic reduction strategy and the subsequent metallic replacement reaction. When the Pd/Pt molar ratio is 1.19:1(designated as Au@Pd_(1.19) Pt_1 NPs), the superior electrochemical activity and stability were achieved for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) in acid solution. Especially, the specific and mass activities of Au@Pd_(1.19) Pt_1 NPs are 1.31 and 6.09 times higher than those of commercial Pt/C catalyst. In addition, the Au@Pd_(1.19) Pt_1 NPs presented a good durability in acid solution. After 3000 potential cycles between 0.1 and 0.7 V(vs. Ag/AgCl), the oxygen reduction activity is almost unchanged. This study provides a simple strategy to synthesize highperformance trimetallic ORR electrocatalyst for fuel cells.     

Design,Synthesis and Antifungal Activity of Benzofuran and Its Analogues

Benzofuran has antifungal activity as the inhibitor of N‐myristoyltransferase. Twenty‐nine novel benzofuran‐semicarbazide hybrids were designed and synthesized by principle of drug combinationatory. On this basis, the benzofuran ring was simplified to a resorcinol structure, and sixteen novel 1,3‐dialkoxybenzene‐semicarbazide hybrids were designed and synthesized. All structures of the target compounds were characterized by HRMS and NMR. The in vitro antifungal activity of target compounds was evaluated using the microdilution broth method against eight strains of pathogenic fungi with fluconazole as positive control. According to the results of the target compounds, structure‐activity relationship (SAR) is summarized. The inhibitory activity against the tested strains of simplified compounds ( K01 — K16 ) has different levels improvement compared with compounds Z01 — Z29 . K01 — K16 showed significant antifungal activities against A. fumigatus, C. kruseii, and sensitive C. albicans 5314. Notably, compounds Z20 , Z22 , K10 , K11 and K16 also displayed different activities against two fluconazole‐resistance strains that were isolated from AIDS patients. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values against fluconazole‐resistant strains were in the range of 2—8 μg/mL and 4—32μg/mL, respectively. Furthermore, molecular docking was performed to investigate the binding affinities and interaction modes between the target compound and N‐myristoyltransferase.     

Multifractal analysis for Cu/Ti bilayer thin films

Two bilayer thin films with different stacking sequences, Cu/Ti/Si and Ti/Cu/Si, were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering technique. X‐ray diffraction technique was used to measure the crystallization structures, and scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were used to measured surface morphology. The multifractal spectra f(α)‐α was used to characterize the surface morphology. The result of |q|_max ≤ 53 is obtained by multifractal analysis. The shape of the multifractal spectra f(α) ? α is hook‐like for Cu/Ti/Si and bell jar‐like for Ti/Cu/Si. The spectrum width Δα = α_max ? α_min and Δf(=f(α_min) ? f(α_max)) of the multifractal spectra is able to quantitatively analyze the growth and surface roughness of the Cu/Ti bilayer thin films. The surface of Ti/Cu/Si thin film is more uniform and smoother than the film of Cu/Ti/Si. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Time‐resolved spectroscopy study of donor–acceptor‐type copolymers in a monodisperse system: The effect of ratio between the acceptor and the donor

The photoexcitation processes of two donor–acceptor‐type copolymers PCFBT with different ratios between the donor and the acceptor ( PCFBT_0.5 and PCFBT_0.1 ) in the solution system are systematically studied. If the number of the donor is equal to that of the acceptor in one repeat unit (such as PCFBT_0.5 ), intrachain charge transfer (ICT) can occur and participate in the relaxation of the excited state after photoexcitation. When the number of donors is much larger than that of acceptors (such as PCFBT_0.1 ) in one repeat unit, the ICT character can disappear, and the localized exciton decay process is dominant in the relaxation of the copolymer, which also involves an excitation intensity‐independent vibrational thermal relaxation process at the initial time. The results further the understanding of the basic structure‐property relationship. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2013 , 51, 992–996     

Bismuth Trichloride–Catalyzed C‐Alkylation of Pyrroles with Electron‐Deficient Olefins

The BiCl₃‐catalyzed reaction of pyrroles with electron‐deficient olefins generated the corresponding Michael adducts in high yields.     

Biginelli-Like Cyclocondensation Reaction: Efficient Synthesis of 4,6-Diarylpyrimidin-2(1H)-one Under Solvent-Free Conditions

An efficient and facile synthesis of 4,6-diarylpyrimidin-2(1H)-one via a Biginelli-like reaction of aromatic aldehydes, aromatic ketones, and urea in the presence of NaOH under solvent-free conditions using a heating method has been developed. Compared with the classical reaction conditions, this new synthetic method has the advantages of excellent yields, shorter reaction time, and mild reaction conditions.      

Helical Biphenyl Bisazo Polyurethane: Preparation,Characterization and Analysis of Polymeric Thermo-Optic Switch

The bisazo chromophore molecule (CAAPM) and helical biphenyl bisazo polyurethane (HBBPU) were synthesized. The structures of CAAPM and HBBPU were characterized by FT-IR and UV-vis spectroscopic techniques. The measurements of refractive index and thermo-optic coefficient (dn/dT) of HBBPU were demonstrated at different wavelengths and different temperatures by the ATR technique. By using CCD digital imaging devices, transmission loss of the internal waveguide was measured. The refractive index dispersions and Sellmeyer coefficients of HBBPU were obtained by the Sellmeyer equation. A Y-branched switch based on the thermo-optic effect was proposed and the performance of the switch was simulated. With a branching angle of 0.143° and the FD-BPM method, the result showed that the power consumption of the thermo-optic switch could be only 3.6 mW, and the response time of the switch could reach about 8 ms. This is a significant improvement in reducing power consumption compared with the normal Y-branched polymer thermo-optic switch.     

Precise Epitope Organization with Self-adjuvant Framework Nucleic Acid for Efficient COVID-19 Peptide Vaccine Construction

Peptide vaccines have advantages in easy fabrication and high safety, but their effectiveness is hampered by the poor immunogenicity of the epitopes themselves. Herein, we constructed a series of framework nucleic acids (FNAs) with regulated rigidity and size to precisely organize epitopes in order to reveal the influence of epitope spacing and carrier rigidity on the efficiency of peptide vaccines. We found that assembling epitopes on rigid tetrahedral FNAs (tFNAs) with the appropriate size could efficiently enhance their immunogenicity. Further, by integrating epitopes from SARS-CoV-2 on preferred tFNAs, we constructed a COVID-19 peptide vaccine which could induce high titers of IgG against the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and increase the ratio of memory B and T cells in mice. Considering the good biocompatibility of tFNAs, our research provides a new idea for developing efficient peptide vaccines against viruses and possibly other diseases.     

Longitudinally Grafting of Graphene with Iron Phthalocyanine-based Porous Organic Polymer to Boost Oxygen Electroreduction

Iron phthalocyanine-based polymers (PFePc) are attractive noble-metal-free candidates for catalyzing oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, the low site-exposure degree and poor electrical conductivity of bulk PFePc restricted their practical applications. Herein, laminar PFePc nanosheets covalently and longitudinally linked to graphene (3D-G-PFePc) was prepared. Such structural engineering qualifies 3D-G-PFePc with high site utilization and rapid mass transfer. Thence, 3D-G-PFePc demonstrates efficient ORR performance with a high specific activity of 69.31 μA cm⁻², a high mass activity of 81.88 A g⁻¹, and a high turnover frequency of 0.93 e s⁻¹ site⁻¹ at 0.90 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode in O₂-saturated 0.1 M KOH, outperforming the lamellar PFePc wrapped graphene counterpart. Systematic electrochemical analyses integrating variable-frequency square wave voltammetry and in situ scanning electrochemical microscopy further underline the rapid kinetics of 3D-G-PFePc towards ORR.     

Synthesis of Fibrous Phosphorus Micropillar Arrays with Pyro-Phototronic Effects

The bottom-up preparation of two-dimensional material micro-nano structures at scale facilitates the realisation of integrated applications in optoelectronic devices. Fibrous Phosphorus (FP), an allotrope of black phosphorus (BP), is one of the most promising candidate materials in the field of optoelectronics with its unique crystal structure and properties.^[1] However, to date, there are no bottom-up micro-nano structure preparation methods for crystalline phosphorus allotropes.^{[1c, 2]} Herein, we present the bottom-up preparation of fibrous phosphorus micropillar (FP-MP) arrays via a low-pressure gas-phase transport (LP-CVT) method that controls the directional phase transition from amorphous red phosphorus (ARP) to FP. In addition, self-powered photodetectors (PD) of FP-MP arrays with pyro-phototronic effects achieved detection beyond the band gap limit. Our results provide a new approach for bottom-up preparation of other crystalline allotropes of phosphorus.