Nucleation and Growth Synthesis of Siloxane Gels to Form Functional,Monodisperse, and Acoustically Programmable Particles

Nucleation and growth methods offer scalable means of synthesizing colloidal particles with precisely specified size for applications in chemical research, industry, and medicine. These methods have been used to prepare a class of silicone gel particles that display a range of programmable properties and narrow size distributions. The acoustic contrast factor of these particles in water is estimated and can be tuned such that the particles undergo acoustophoresis to either the pressure nodes or antinodes of acoustic standing waves. These particles can be synthesized to display surface functional groups that can be covalently modified for a range of bioanalytical and acoustophoretic sorting applications.     

Enzymetically Regulating the Self‐Healing of Protein Hydrogels with High Healing Efficiency

Enzyme‐mediated self‐healing of dynamic covalent bond‐driven protein hydrogels was realized by the synergy of two enzymes, glucose oxidase (GOX) and catalase (CAT). The reversible covalent attachment of glutaraldehyde to lysine residues of GOX, CAT, and bovine serum albumin (BSA) led to the formation and functionalization of the self‐healing protein hydrogel system. The enzyme‐mediated protein hydrogels exhibit excellent self‐healing properties with 100 % recovery. The self‐healing process was reversible and effective with an external glucose stimulus at room temperature.     

De Novo Design of an Endohedral Heteronuclear Dimetallofullerene (UGd)@C60 with Exceptional Structural and Electronic Properties

Ever since the first synthesis of La@C₈₂ and U@C₂₈, there has been a growing interest in the study of endohedral metallofullerenes (EMFs) because of their great potential in various applications. Here we design a novel heteronuclear EMF (U‐Gd)@C₆₀, by using density functional theory (DFT), which shows an encapsulation energy of about ?5.53 eV, comparable to that of U₂@C_60, La₂@C₈₀, and Lu₂@C₇₆. (U‐Gd)@C₆₀ is found to have a surprising twofold, single‐electron U?Gd bond that results from the strong nanoconfinement of the fullerene, dominated by uranium′s 5f and 6d and gadolinium′s 5d atomic orbitals. The ground state shows an 11‐et high spin state, and the net spins distributed on the U‐pole carbons are relatively scattered, while they are highly concentrated on the Gd‐pole carbons. The exceptional electronic characteristics of this novel EMF, containing both uranium and gadolinium atoms encapsulated, might prove useful for future applications in nuclear energy and biomedicine.     

Ultra‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization/quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry for the rapid analysis of constituents in the traditional Chinese medical formula Danggui San

In this work, ultra‐performance LC with ESI quadrupole TOF‐MS (UPLC–ESI‐Q‐TOF‐MS) and automated MetaboLynx analysis was used to rapidly separate and identify the chemical constituents of Danggui San, a traditional Chinese medical formula. The analysis was performed on a Waters UPLC BEH C₁₈ column using a gradient elution system. A hyphenated ESI and Q‐TOF analyzer was used for the determination of the accurate mass of the protonated or deprotonated molecule and fragment ions in both positive and negative modes. Based on retention times, accurate mass, and the mass spectrometric fragmentation characteristics, a total of 47 compounds distributed over the chemical groups of phthalides, flavonoids, monoterpene glycosides, sesquiterpenoids, phenolics, and alkaloids, were simultaneously separated within 18 min and identified or tentatively elucidated in Danggui San for the first time. UPLC–ESI‐Q‐TOF‐MS analysis revealed the complexity of the chemical composition of this formula. The method developed is rapid, accurate, reliable, and highly sensitive to characterize the chemical constituents of Danggui San.     

石墨烯层数测量方法的研究进展

石墨烯具有高导电性、高韧度、高强度、超大比表面积等特点,在电子、航天工业、新能源、新材料等领域有广泛应用。对石墨烯层数测量方法的研究有助于深入理解石墨烯性能与微观结构之间的关系。本文着重阐述了包括光学显微镜、拉曼光谱、原子力显微镜和透射电镜等测量石墨烯层数的方法,同时比较了各种测量方法的优点及局限性,并指出石墨烯层数的测量方法还有待进一步完善。     

高热稳定性二氧化硅包覆的Au25纳米簇的制备和催化应用

具有独特的电子和几何结构,原子精确控制的金纳米簇(<2 nm)成为一种新的具有广泛研究和应用前景的纳米催化剂.负载在氧化物表面的金纳米簇通常会在高于300°C时聚集或长大.人们已经通过多种方法成功制备了对于非原子精确控制的热稳定性的金纳米颗粒.主要包括利用金属与载体强相互作用,用可还原的金属氧化物来稳定金纳米颗粒;利用物理阻隔作用使用高比表面积的载体或制备核壳、纳米粒子镶嵌在载体中来稳定金纳米颗粒.对于原子精确控制的金纳米簇,由于其外边包覆着一层配体,将其负载到载体上时要保证配体不被破坏才能保证金纳米簇的结构完整性,负载后通常要除去配体才能使催化活性位曝露出来.目前,高热稳定性(>300°C)的金纳米簇的制备方法还较少.由于金与 SiO2相互作用较弱,将超小(<2 nm)的金纳米粒子包覆于其中非常困难.因此,本文首先制备了1.3 nm的含有硅酯键的巯基配体(3-巯丙基三甲氧基硅烷)保护的 Au25[SC3H6Si(OCH3)3]18,然后将其在刚成核的 SiO2表面与正硅酸四乙酯共水解,得到了既保留了 Au25的完整结构,又避免了 Au25之间相互水解的 Au25(SC3H6SiO3)18@SiO2纳米材料.漫反射固体紫外-可见光谱证明了 Au25在包覆完成后结构的完整性.透射电镜结果表明, Au25纳米簇焙烧至400°C未发生明显聚集长大.对硝基苯酚还原实验结果表明,不同温度处理后的 Au25@SiO2配体在200°C开始脱除,温度高于传统的负载型 Au25催化剂,表明 Au25是在 SiO2内部而不是在表面,从而使配体不易离去.400°C处理后的 Au25@SiO2对4-硝基苯酚还原表现出最高的反应活性,表明该纳米簇在400°C处理后没有发生明显聚集长大.     

Photoelectrochemical Behavior of Sn‐Doped α‐Fe2O3 Photoanode with Different Reducer

Hematite has been considered as one of the most promising photoanode candidates for solar water‐splitting. However, its photoelectrochemical (PEC) efficiency is largely constrained by its sluggish oxygen evolution reaction. In this work, the photoelectrochemical performance of hematite was investigated in electrolytes containing different sacrificial agent. The photocurrent densities, onset potential, charge transfer resistance, Helmholtz capacitance at semiconductor liquid junctions (SCLJs), and their correlations were systematically studied. It was found that the onset potential is around the C_H peak potential and is related to the photovoltage. The surface states pinning the Fermi levels of the hematite photoanode are related to the adsorbed water molecules regardless of the sacrificial agents in the electrolyte.     

Fine-tuning the molecular energy levels by incorporating thiophene units onto the π-backbone of core-expanded naphthalene diimides

A series of core-expanded naphthalene diimides (NDI-DTYM) and thiophene-based derivatives (1a-c) were designed and synthesized to investigate the relationship between molecular structures and the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels but has little impact on the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels. The results demonstrated that increasing the number of thiophene units can gradually elevate the HOMO energy levels but had little impact on the LUMO energy levels. The n-channel organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) based on 1b and 1c have demonstrated that these almost unchanged LUMO energy levels are proper to transport electrons.     

Chiral separation abilities of homogeneously synthesized cellulose 3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamates: Influences of degree of substitution and molecular weight

A series of cellulose 3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamates(CDMPCs) with different degrees of substitution(DS) and degrees of polymerization(DP) were homogeneously synthesized in 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride(Amim Cl). Then, the CDMPCs were coated on silica gel and used as chiral stationary phases(CSPs), and their chiral recognition abilities for seven racemates were evaluated by high performance liquid chromatography. The results showed that DS and DP of CDMPCs had a great influence on chiral recognition abilities of the CSPs. The CSPs with the DS ≈ 1 gives a low chiral recognition to most racemates. On the contrast, the CSPs with the DS ? 2 exhibited high chiral separation abilities. For example, six racemates could be separated on the CSP with CDMPC of DS ≈ 2(CSP-2). Especially, for the enantioseparation of 1-(2-naphthyl) ethanol and Tr?ger's base, CSP-2 gave the highest separation ability in all of CSPs. On the other hand, when the DP of cellulose was in a range from 39 to 220, the chiral separation abilities of CDMPCs increased as the DP increased. This work demonstrates that the structure of cellulose esters such as DS and DP has important effect on their chiral separation ability, and therefore provides a practical method to design and prepare desirable CSPs for different racemates.     

The stereocomplex formation and phase separation of PLLA/PDLA blends with different optical purities and molecular weights

In this study, the poly(L-lactide)/poly(D-lactide)(PLLA/PDLA) blends with different optical purities of PLLA and various molecular weights of PDLA are prepared by solution mixing, and the stereocomplex formation and phase separation behaviors of these blends are investigated. Results reveal that optical purity and molecular weight do not vary the crystal structure of PLA stereocomplex(sc) and homochiral crystallites(hc). As the optical purity increasing in the blends, the melting temperature of sc(Tsc) and the content of sc(ΔHsc) increased, while the melting temperature of hc(Thm) hardly changes, although the content of hc(ΔHhm) decreased gradually. The Tsc and ΔHsc are also enhanced as the molecular weight of PDLA reduces, and the ΔHhm reduces rapidly even though the Thm does not vary apparently. With lower optical purities of PLLA and higher molecular weights of PDLA, three types of crystals form in the blends, i.e., PLA sc, PLLA hc and PDLA hc. As molecular weight decreases and optical purity enhances, the crystal phase decreases to two(sc and PDLA hc), and one(sc) finally. This investigation indicates that the phase separation behavior between PLLA and PDLA in the PLLA/PDLA blends not only depends on molecular weights, but also relies on the optical purities of polymers.