Facile and efficient approach to speed up layer-by-layer assembly: dipping in agitated solutions

A facile and efficient approach has been developed to speed up the fabrication of LBL films through sequential dipping in vigorously agitated solutions. By this agitated-dipping (AD) LBL technique, the multilayer films of PAH and PSS were fabricated. The resulting films were explored by UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray reflectivity, and AFM. Meanwhile, the comparison of the AD and conventional LBL films was made, which demonstrated that AD LBL can decrease dipping time by more than 15 times without reducing film quality remarkably. In addition, to verify the generality of AD LBL, we studied the AD LBL films of PDDA/PSS and PAH/PAA preliminarily as well. AD LBL promotes the efficiency of conventional LBL greatly while preserving its most advantages, such as simplicity, cheapness, precise control, universality in substrates, recycling use of sample solutions, and so on. It would be a promising alternative to build up LBL films rapidly.     

The First Examples of Selenidogermanate Salts with Lanthanide Complex Counter Cations: Solvothermal Syntheses and Characterizations of [{Ln(en)3}2(μ‐OH)2]Ge2Se6 (Ln = Eu,Ho) and [{Ho(dien)2}2(μ‐OH)2]Ge2Se6

The lanthanide selenidogermanates [{Eu(en)₃}₂(μ‐OH)₂]Ge₂Se₆ ( 1 ), [{Ho(en)₃}₂(μ‐OH)₂]Ge₂Se₆ ( 2 ), and [{Ho(dien)₂}₂(μ‐OH)₂]Ge₂Se₆ ( 3 ) (en = ethylenediamine, dien = diethylenetriamine) were solvothermally prepared by the reactions of Eu₂O₃ (or Ho₂O₃), germanium, and selenium in en and dien solvents respectively. Compounds 1 – 3 are composed of selenidogermanate [Ge₂Se₆]^4– anion and dinuclear lanthanide complex cation [{Ln(en)₃}₂(μ‐OH)₂]⁴⁺ (Ln = Eu, Ho) or [{Ho(dien)₂}₂(μ‐OH)₂]⁴⁺. The [Ge₂Se₆]^4– anion is composed of two GeSe₄ tetrahedra sharing a common edge. The dinuclear lanthanide complex cations are built up from two [Ln(en)₃]³⁺ or [Ho(dien)₂]³⁺ ions joined by two μ‐OH bridges. All lanthanide(III) ions are in eight‐coordinate environments forming distorted bicapped trigonal prisms. In 1 – 3 , three‐dimensional supramolecular networks of the anions and cations are formed by N–H ··· Se and N–H ··· O hydrogen bonds. To the best of our knowledge, 1 – 3 are the first examples of selenidogermanate salts with lanthanide complex counter cations.     

TiO2 nanorods branched on fast-synthesized large clearance TiO2 nanotube arrays for dye-sensitized solar cells

A large clearance TiO₂ nanotube arrays (LTAs) has been synthesized by a not more than 12 h anodization duration and based on this a branched TiO₂ nanotube arrays (BLTs) has been achieved through TiO₂ nanorods branch-like grown on the LTAs. Some key factors and probable mechanisms of the fabrication processes on two novel nanoarchitectures are discussed. Exhilaratingly, it is found that the obtained LTAs has demonstrated large pore diameter and void spaces (pore diameter ∼350 nm; void spaces ∼160 nm; and tube length ∼3.5 μm), and the synthesized hierarchical BLTs, compared with conventional TiO₂ nanotube arrays, has shown a much stronger dye absorption performance and an approximately double of the solar cell efficiency (in our case from 1.62% to 3.18% under simulated AM 1.5 conditions).     

Poly(Acrylic Acid-b-Styrene) Amphiphilic Multiblock Copolymers as Building Blocks for the Assembly of Discrete Nanoparticles

In order to expand the utility of current polymeric micellar systems, we have developed amphiphilic multiblock copolymers containing alternating blocks of poly(acrylic acid) and poly(styrene). Heterotelechelic poly(tert-butyl acrylate-b-styrene) diblock copolymers containing an α-alkyne and an ω-azide were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), allowing control over the molecular weight while maintaining narrow polydispersity indices. The multiblock copolymers were constructed by copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition of azide-alkyne end functional diblock copolymers which were then characterized by (1)H NMR, FT-IR and SEC. The tert-butyl moieties of the poly(tert-butyl acrylate-b-styrene) multiblock copolymers were easily removed to form the poly(acrylic acid-b-styrene) multiblock copolymer ((PAA-PS)(9)), which contained up to 9 diblock repeats. The amphiphilic multiblock (PAA-PS)(9) (M(n) = 73.3 kg/mol) was self-assembled by dissolution into tetrahydrofuran and extensive dialysis against deionized water for 4 days. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) for (PAA-PS)(9) was determined by fluorescence spectroscopy using pyrene as a fluorescent probe and was found to be very low at 2 × 10(-4) mg/mL. The (PAA-PS)(9) multiblock was also analyzed by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The hydrodynamic diameter of the particles was found to be 11 nm. Discrete spherical particles were observed by TEM with an average particle diameter of 14 nm. The poly(acrylic acid) periphery of the spherical particles should allow for future conjugation of biomolecules.     

Liquid-liquid solvent extraction of rare earths from chloride medium with sec-nonylphenoxy acetic acid and its mixtures with neutral organophosphorus extractants

In the present study, sec-nonylphenoxy acetic acid (CA100) and its mixtures with four neutral organophosphorus extractants, tri-butyl-phosphate (TBP), 2-ethylhexyl phosphonic acid di-2-ethyl ester (DEHEHP), Cyanex923, and Cyanex925 have been applied to the extraction of rare earths. Results show that all the four mixing systems do not have evident synergistic effects on the extraction of rare earths. The different extraction effects have been considered to the separation of rare earths. The four mixtures may be applied to the separation of yttrium from some certain lanthanoids at proper mole fractions of CA100.     

Selective detection of dopamine in the presence of uric acid using a gold nanoparticles-poly(luminol) hybrid film and multi-walled carbon nanotubes with incorporated β-cyclodextrin modified glassy carbon electrode

Gold nanoparticles-poly(luminol) (Plu-AuNPs) hybrid film and multi-walled carbon nanotubes with incorporated β-cyclodextrin modified glassy carbon electrode (β-CD-MWCNTs/Plu-AuNPs/GCE) was successfully prepared for simultaneous determination of dopamine (DA) and uric acid (UA). The surface of the modified electrode has been characterized by X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), field-emission scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) have been used to investigate the β-CD-MWCNTs/Plu-AuNPs composite film. Gold nanoparticles anchored into poly(luminol) film exhibited catalytic activity for DA. MWCNTs with incorporated β-CD can greatly promote the direct electron transfer. In 0.10 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS, pH 7.0), the DPV response of the β-CD-MWCNTs/Plu-AuNPs/GCE sensor to DA is about 8-fold as compared with the Plu-AuNPs/GCE sensor, and the detection limit for DA is about one order of magnitude lower than the Plu-AuNPs/GCE sensor. The steady-state current response increases linearly with DA concentration from 1.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 5.6 × 10⁻⁵ M with a low detection limit (S/N = 3) of 1.9 × 10⁻⁷ M. Moreover, the interferences of ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA) are effectively diminished. The applicability of the prepared electrode has been demonstrated by measuring DA contents in dopamine hydrochloride injection.     

1,1-二(2,4,6-三硝基苯甲酰胺基)-2,2-硝基乙烯的合成

以1,1-二氨基-2,2-二硝基乙烯(FOX-7)和2,4,6-三硝基苯甲酰氯(TNBC)为原料反应合成得到了1,1-二(2,4,6-三硝基苯甲酰胺基)-2,2-二硝基乙烯,并通过单因素试验和正交试验方法,分别探讨了反应介质、缚酸剂、反应温度和反应时间等对产物产率的影响,得到适宜的工艺条件为:FOX-7与TNBC物质的量的比1∶2.4,以四氢呋喃(THF)为反应介质,N,N-二甲基甲酰胺(DMF)为缚酸剂,反应温度0℃,反应时间48 h,产率可达94％.采用紫外可见光谱(UV-Vis)、核磁共振氢谱(1H NMR)、核磁共振碳谱(13C NMR)、红外光谱(FT-IR)、质谱(MS)及元素分析等对产物的结构进行了表征.利用差热分析仪对产物热稳定性进行了研究,结果表明,产物在空气中分解峰值温度为167℃,理论计算爆速为7.434km· s-1,爆压为23.67 GPa.     

碳水化合物衍生的手性配体——25含碳水化合物单元的膦配体在钯催化的Heck反应中的应用

评价了一种碳水化合物衍生的具有较大立体位阻及较三苯基膦更富电子的膦配体(甲基3-脱氧-3-二苯膦基-4,6-氧-苯次甲基-α-D-吡喃阿卓糖苷,3-MBPA)在Pd催化的Heck反应中的性能.发现在N,N-二甲基乙酰胺溶刺中K2CO3是该催化体系较适合的碱;在该配体的支持下催化剂中钯的用量可低至0.5 mo1%;可催化苯乙烯与带给电子基团的溴代芳烃及带吸电子基团的氯代芳烃发生反应,高产率地生成相应的偶联产物;反应区域选择性表明,Pd(OAc)2/3-MBPA体系在催化苯乙烯与卤代芳烃的Heck反心中并存阳离子催化途径,说明3-MBPA中的氧原了可能也参与配位;同时发现,加入助配体四丁基溴化胺(TBAB)后,可能是Br-参与配位有利于增加中性催化途径的机会而提高了反应区域选择性.     

Effect of final heating temperature on crystallization of isotactic polypropylene nucleated with an aryl amide derivative as <Emphasis Type="Italic">β</Emphasis>-form nucleating agent

An aryl dicarboxylic acid amide compound TMB-5 is an efficientβ-form nucleating agent for isotactic polypropylene(iPP).Because of the solubility of TMB-5,superstructure and morphology of iPP crystals changed with melting conditions.Effects of final heating temperature(T_f)on heterogeneous nucleation of iPP/TMB-5 were investigated.It was discovered that the crystallization temperature increased with decreasing T_f value.The optical microscopic images indicated that when TMB-5 partially dissolved in iPP melt,the remaining(non-dissolved)TMB-5 facilitated the recrystallization of dissolved nucleating agent from the melt,which promoted crystallization.Complete solubility of nucleating agent caused the decreasing efficiency.TMB-5 recrystallized in the form of tiny needles,whose aggregates induced dendritic iPP crystals.