Properties and Extraction for [Ni(NH3)6]2+ of ATPS-a Formed by Aqueous Cationic–Anionic Surfactant Mixtures

The properties and extraction for [Ni(NH₃)₆]²⁺ of anionic aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS-a) that formed in mixtures of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and excess sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) aqueous solutions were investigated. The results showed that the properties and extraction effects were strongly affected by the surfactant concentration, the temperature of system, and the mole fraction of surfactants. The increase of temperature induces narrower phase region and larger phase volume ratio. In addition, [Ni(NH₃)₆]²⁺ was extracted into the surfactant-rich phase with higher distribution coefficient when the liquid crystal had the birefringent properties. Moreover, the distribution coefficient can be improved through reducing the concentration of surfactant from 0.15 to 0.05 mol · L^?1 or increasing mole fraction of CTAB from 21.9% to 23.1%. The results showed that ATPS of cationic–anionic surfactants was efficient for [Ni(NH₃)₆]²⁺ extraction with distribution coefficients of 13.5 when the total surfactant concentration was 0.05 mol · L^?1, mole fraction of CTAB was 21%, and temperature was 34°C.     

Electrochemical Treatment for Effectively Tuning Thermoelectric Properties of Free‐Standing Poly(3‐methylthiophene) Films

The degree of oxidation of conducting polymers has great influence on their thermoelectric properties. Free‐standing poly(3‐methylthiophene) (P3MeT) films were prepared by electrochemical polymerization in boron trifluoride diethyl etherate, and the fresh films were treated electrochemically with a solution of propylene carbonate/lithium perchlorate as mediator. The conductivity of the resultant P3MeT films depends on the doping level, which is controlled by a constant potential from ?0.5 to 1.4 V. The optimum electrical conductivity (78.9 S cm^?1 at 0.5 V) and a significant increase in the Seebeck coefficient (64.3 μV K^?1 at ?0.5 V) are important for achieving an optimum power factor at an optimal potential. The power factor of electrochemically treated P3MeT films reached its maximum value of 4.03 μW m^?1 K^?2 at 0.5 V. Moreover, after two months, it still exhibited a value of 3.75 μW m^?1 K^?2, and thus was more stable than pristine P3MeT due to exchange of doping ions in films under ambient conditions. This electrochemical treatment is a significant alternative method for optimizing the thermoelectric power factor of conducting polymer films.     

Tensor logarithmic norm and its applications

Matrix logarithmic norm is an important quantity, which characterize the stability of linear dynamical systems. We propose the logarithmic norms for tensors and tensor pairs, and extend some classical results from the matrix case. Moreover, the explicit forms of several tensor logarithmic norms and semi‐norms are also derived. Employing the tensor logarithmic norms, we bound the real parts of all the eigenvalues of a complex tensor and study the stability of a class of nonlinear dynamical systems. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preparation of corn stalk-based adsorbents and their specific application in metal ions adsorption

Corn stalk-based adsorbents modified from corn stalk were prepared by Cu(0)-mediated reversible-deactivation radical polymerization (Cu(0)-mediated RDRP). They were applied to remove metal ions and they exhibited good adsorption capacity, especially for Hg(II). Adsorption properties of corn stalk can be enhanced by introducing cyano, amino, amidoxime, and carboxyl groups onto its surface, which results in efficient adsorbents for different metal ions. TGA, SEM, EA, and FTIR analyses were employed to characterize the structures of corn stalk-graft-polyacrylonitrile (CS-g-PAN), corn stalk-graft-polyacrylamide (CS-g-PAM), amidoxime corn stalk-graft-polyacrylonitrile (AO CS-g-PAN) and carboxyl corn stalk-graft-poly(methyl acrylate) (CO CS-g-PMA). The maximum adsorption capacity for Hg(II) was 8.06 mmol g^?1 of AO CS-g-PAN. Kinetics of the Hg(II) adsorption on AO CS-g-PAN was found to follow the pseudo-second-order model and the adsorption isotherms were well fitted with the Freundlich isotherm model.     

A novel detector using a fluorescent sensor array and discrimination of pesticides

A novel, simple, and rapid detector using a fluorescent sensor array for discrimination and quantification of different concentrations (ppb level) of pesticides was proposed in this paper. Employing porphyrin, porphyrin derivatives, and chemically responsive dyes as the sensing elements, the developed sensor array based on a cross-responsive mechanism showed a unique pattern of fluorescence changes upon the reaction that lasted just 10 min. The eigenvalues from raw fluorescence spectra were analyzed via a pattern recognition algorithm, including hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), principal component analysis (PCA), and back-propagation neural network (BPNN). The results showed that HCA, which were used to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of discrimination of the fluorescent sensor array, revealed a distinct separation between different pesticides. PCA and BPNN were used for automatically predicting the concentration of pesticides, and the recovery was 91.29–109.81 % while the lowest relative standard deviation was up to 3.12 %. It indicates a detector based on the fluorescent sensor array is a rapid and feasible sensing platform for the discrimination and quantitative analysis of pesticides, and also shows the possibilities in the related fields of pesticides identification and detection.     

Realizing 11.3% efficiency in fullerene-free polymer solar cells by device optimization

In this work, photovoltaic properties of the PBDB-T:ITIC based-NF-PSCs were fully optimized and characterized by tuning the morphology of the active layers and changing the device architecture. First, donor/acceptor (D/A) weight ratios were scanned, and then further optimization was performed by using different additives, i.e. 1,8-diiodooctane (DIO), diphenyl ether (DPE), 1-chloronaphthalene (CN) and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), on the basis of best D/A ratio (1:1, w/w), respectively. Finally, the conventional or inverted device architectures with different buffer layers were employed to fabricate NF-PSC devices, and meanwhile, the morphology of the active layers was further optimized by controlling annealing temperature and time. As a result, a record efficiency of 11.3% was achieved, which is the highest result for NF-PSCs. It’s also remarkable that the inverted NF-PSCs exhibited long-term stability, i.e. the best-performing devices maintain 83% of their initial PCEs after over 4000 h storage.     

Isolated supramolecules on surfaces studied with scanning tunneling microscopy

To date, supramolecular chemistry is an ever growing research field owing to its crucial role in molecular catalysis, recognition, medicine, data storage and processing as well as artificial photosynthetic devices.Different isolated supramolecules were prepared by molecular self-assembly on surfaces. This review mainly focuses on supramolecular aggregations on noble metal surfaces studied by scanning tunneling microscopy, including dimers, trimers, tetramers, pentamers, wire-like assemblies and Sierpin′ ski triangular fractals. The variety of self-assembled structures reflects the subtle balance between intermolecular and molecule–substrate interactions, which to some extent may be controlled by molecules, substrates and the molecular coverage. The comparative study of different architectures helps identifying the operative mechanisms that lead to the structural motifs. The application of these mechanisms may lead to novel assemblies with tailored physicochemical properties.     

雷公藤内酯醇和缬沙坦对高糖诱导小鼠足细胞活性的影响

目的观察不同浓度高糖对小鼠足细胞活性的抑制作用,以及不同浓度雷公藤内酯醇（TP）和缬沙坦（Val）对高糖抑制后小鼠足细胞活性的影响,探讨高糖对足细胞的损伤作用,以及有效的药物干预浓度范围。方法将培养成熟的小鼠足细胞随机分为对照组（11.1mmol/L葡萄糖）和不同浓度高糖组（16.1、21.1、26.1、31.1、36.1mmol/L）,以上述浓度培养48h后采用CCK-8检测足细胞活性的变化。取活性变化最大的浓度为高糖诱导浓度,在此基础上随机分为不同浓度的TP组（4、8、16、32、64ng/ml）和Val组（2×10-8、2×10-7、2×10-6、2×10-5、2×10-4mol/L）,以上述浓度干预48h后,采用CCK-8检测足细胞活性的变化。结果（1）与对照组相比,除16.1mmol/L高糖组外,其余各高糖组的足细胞活性显著减少,其中以26.1mmol/L葡萄糖组减少最为明显（P＜0.01）。（2）与26.1mmol/L葡萄糖组相比,TP组（除4ng/ml组外）和Val组（除2×10-8mol/L组外）足细胞活性部分恢复,其中以16ng/mlTP组和2×10-5mol/LVal组足细胞活性恢复最为明显（P＜0.01）。结论一定浓度范围的TP和Val可部分恢复受高糖抑制的小鼠足细胞活性。