Synthesis of monodisperse oligocarbazoles-functionalized anthracenes with intense blue-emitting

New well-defined monodisperse oligocarbazoles-functionalized anthracenes An-OCZn (n = 1, 2, 3) have been synthesized through Suzuki cross-coupling reaction of the brominated oligocarbazoles and 9,10-bis(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolan-2-yl)anthracene. They show good solubility in organic solvents, including dichloromethane, chloroform, toluene, ethyl acetate, and tetrahydrofuran. It should be noted that, in the case of An-OCZn, the formation of the excimer based on anthracene unit is suppressed completely due to the introduction of oligocarbazoles in 9,10-position of anthracene so that an intense blue-emitting has been afforded. In addition, the obtained An-OCZn exhibit good electrochemical and thermal stabilities. Thus, the oligocarbazoles-functionalized anthracenes can be a class of promising candidates for novel blue-emitting materials employed in OLEDs or related devices.     

Noncovalent Functionalization of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes by Anionic Polymer Poly(Sodium 4‐Styrenesulfonate) in Water

We have found that polymer poly (sodium 4‐styrenesulfonate) (PSS) is a facile and effective polymer to assist in the dispersion of MWCNTs in aqueous solutions. With the increase of the concentration of PSS solutions, the dispersibility of MWCNTs in PSS solution increases. Cast films of MWCNTs/PSS (2 wt.%) on GC electrode show a typical redox couple at scan rate of 1 V/s in phosphate buffer solution, indicating good electrical conductivity.     

Critical behavior of a passively mode-locked laser: rational harmonic mode locking

The critical behavior of passive mode locking has been demonstrated in a figure-eight fiber laser that performs rational harmonic mode locking (RHML). On both the repetition rate and the pulse amplitude distribution, the observed pulse trains near the threshold exhibit the same regulations as the rational harmonic mode-locked ones. The theory also shows that there should be a middle status of RHML before achieving normal mode locking. It is important to note that the results provide what we believe to be the first confirmed attempt to address a fundamental question: how does a laser become mode locking with an increase of pump power?     

Construction of the nano-carbon connections among the carbon-coated LiFe0.8Mn0.2PO4 grains by sol-gel technique

Nano-carbon connections among carbon-coated LiFe_0.8Mn_0.2PO₄ grains are successfully constructed using polyacrylic acid and sucrose as carbon sources by sol-gel method, which can improve the electrochemical performance of LiFe_0.8Mn_0.2PO₄. Samples were characterised by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and electrochemical tests. The electrochemical tests show LiFe_0.8Mn_0.2PO₄ grains connected by nano-carbon networks obtain the discharge specific capacity of 165 mA h g^?1 at 0.1 C rate and excellent rate capability. Its specific capacity reaches 122 mA h g^?1 at 5 C rate. Its capacity retention at 5 C rate attains 97% cycled 100 cycles. Therefore the construction of nano-carbon networks offers an effective and convenient technique to improve the specific capacities and rate capabilities of electrode materials of low electronic conductivity.     

17.1%-Efficiency organic photovoltaic cell enabled with two higher-LUMO-level acceptor guests as the quaternary strategy

Quaternary blended organic solar cells utilize four blended material components(one donor plus three acceptors, two donors and two acceptors, or three donors plus one acceptor) as the active layer materials. The use of four material components allows us to have more material selections and more mechanism choices to improve the photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. In this contribution, we present a new case of quaternary material system, that shows 17.1% efficiency obtained by adding IDIC and PC_(71)BM as the guest acceptors of the host binary of PM6:Y6. The lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO) levels of IDIC and PC_(71)BM are both higher than that of Y6, which is one reason to obtain increased open-circuit voltage(V_(oc)) in the quaternary device. Upon introduction of IDIC and PC_(71)BM as the acceptor guests, the hole and electron mobilities are both increased, which contributes to the increased short-circuit current-density(J_(sc)). Effects of the weight ratios of the three acceptor components are investigated, which demonstrates that the increased hole and electron mobilities, the accelerated hole-transfer, and the reduced monomolecular recombination are the factors contributing to the increased J_(sc)and fill-factor. This case of quaternary device demonstrates the applicability of the quaternary strategy in increasing the device functions and hence the efficiencies in the field of organic photovoltaic cells.     

Chaotic resonance in Izhikevich neural network motifs under electromagnetic induction

Nonlinear Dynamics - Chaotic resonance (CR) is the response of a nonlinear system to weak signals enhanced by internal or external chaotic activity (such as the signal derived from Lorenz system)....     

Twiston vs. random fluctuation as the source of the rapid motion of polyethylene in the inclusion complex with perhydrotriphenylene

Recently molecular dynamics simulations were performed for polyethylene in the inclusion complex with perhydrotriphenylene. The system contained ninety molecules of perhydrotriphenylene, arranged in six stacks of fifteen molecules each, and one molecule of n-tetracontane, C₄₀H₈₂. The internal CH₂-CH₂ bonds in n-tetracontane have a very strong preference for the trans state. Nevertheless, the chain exhibits a high degree of internal flexibility. This motion produces a characteristic pattern in δ|ψ N + i ψi| vs. N, where ψ_i describes the instantaneous angle of a C-H bond vector at carbon atom i about the axis defined by the channel, and δ denotes the fluctuation. The pattern expected for δ|ψ N + i ψi| vs. N is derived for the case where the rapid internal motion is produced by a twiston. It is compared with the results from the simulation and from the expectation for the case where the rapid motion arises from uncorrelated internal fluctuations within the trans state at each CH₂-CH₂ bond.     

Newly Emerging Strategies in Antiviral Drug Discovery: Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Erik De Clercq on Occasion of His 80th Anniversary

Viral infections pose a persistent threat to human health. The relentless epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a global health problem, with millions of infections and fatalities so far. Traditional approaches such as random screening and optimization of lead compounds by organic synthesis have become extremely resource- and time-consuming. Various modern innovative methods or integrated paradigms are now being applied to drug discovery for significant resistance in order to simplify the drug process. This review provides an overview of newly emerging antiviral strategies, including proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC), ribonuclease targeting chimera (RIBOTAC), targeted covalent inhibitors, topology-matching design and antiviral drug delivery system. This article is dedicated to Prof. Dr. Erik De Clercq, an internationally renowned expert in the antiviral drug research field, on the occasion of his 80th anniversary.     

Upper Bound of the Number of Zeros for Abelian Integrals in a Kind of Quadratic Reversible Centers of Genus One

By using the methods of Picard-Fuchs equation and Riccati equation, we study the upper bound of the number of zeros for Abelian integrals in a kind of quadratic reversible centers of genus one under polynomial perturbations of degree $n$. We obtain that the upper bound is $7[(n-3)/2]+5$ when $n\ge 5$, $8$ when $n=4$, $5$ when $n=3$, $4$ when $n=2$, and $0$ when $n=1$ or $n=0$, which linearly depends on $n$.