Microbial fuel cells using natural pyrrhotite as the cathodic heterogeneous Fenton catalyst towards the degradation of biorefractory organics in landfill leachate

An investigation aimed at checking the integration of cathodic pyrrhotite Fenton's reaction with anodic microbial respiration for the enhancement of MFC performance and treatment of a real landfill leachate was carried out. The MFC equipped with a pyrrhotite-coated graphite-cathode generated the maximum power density of 4.2 W/m³ that was 133% higher than graphite-cathode. Concomitantly, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed that the polarization resistance of pyrrhotite-cathode (92 Ω) was much lower than the graphite-cathode (1057 Ω), indicating that the cathodic overpotential was significantly lowered, probably due to the occurrence of pyrrhotite Fenton's reaction. The in situ generation of Fenton's reagents (Fe²⁺ and H₂O₂) at the pyrrhotite-cathode was demonstrated by the cyclic voltammetry measurement. Besides, reactive oxygen species produced from the pyrrhotite Fenton's reaction were detected and demonstrated to be vital to the enhancement of MFC power output. Further, the effectiveness of this system was examined by treating an old-aged landfill leachate. 77% of color and 78% of COD were removed from the original leachate, indicating that the pyrrhotite not only acted as a cost-effective cathodic catalyst for MFCs in power generation, but also extended the practical merits of traditional MFCs towards advanced oxidation of biorefractory pollutants.     

Synthesis and characterisation of polymeric materials consisting of {Fe2(CO)5}-unit and their relevance to the diiron sub-unit of [FeFe]-hydrogenase

By using "click" chemistry between a diazide and a diiron model complex armed with two alkynyl groups, two polymeric diiron complexes (Poly-Py and Poly-Ph) were prepared. The two polymeric complexes were investigated using infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), M?ssbauer spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry (Poly-Py only, due to the insolubility of Poly-Ph). To probe the coordinating mode of the diiron units in the two polymeric complexes, two control complexes (3 and 4) were also synthesised using a monoazide. Complexes 3 and 4 were well characterised and the latter was further crystallographically analysed. It turns out that in both complexes (3 and 4) and the two polymeric diiron complexes, one of the two iron atoms in the diiron unit coordinates with one of the triazole N atoms. Our results revealed that both morphologies and properties of Poly-Py and Poly-Ph are significantly affected by the organic moiety of the diazide. Compared to the protonating behaviour of the complexes 3 and 4, Poly-Py exhibited proton resistance. In electrochemical reduction, potentials for the reduction of the diiron units in Poly-Py and hence its catalytic reduction of proton in acetic acid-DMF shifted by over 400 mV compared to those for complexes 3 and 4. It is likely that the polymeric nature of Poly-Py offers the diiron units a "protective" environment in an acidic medium and more positive reduction potential.     

Density functional theory investigation on the electronic structure of furo[3,4-b]pyridine-type heterocyclics: from monomer to polymer

The geometries and electronic properties of six polymers based on furo[3,4-b]pyridine-type heterocyclics were studied using density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level. Bond lengths, bond critical point (BCP) properties, nucleus-independent chemical shift (NICS), and Wiberg bond indexes (WBIs) are analyzed and correlated with conduction properties. The changes of bond length, BCP properties, NICS, and WBIs all show that the conjugational degree is increased with main chain extension. The changes of NICS also show that the conjugation is stronger in the central section than in the outer section. And the HOMO–LUMO energy gap (E _g) is decreased steadily upon chain elongation. The results suggest that the six polymers all have lower energy gaps (in the range of 0.39–0.58 eV), which indicate that these proposed polymers are good candidates for the conductive materials.     

Fast quantitative analysis of boric acid by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry coupled with a simple and selective derivatization reaction using triethanolamine

A fast, selective, and sensitive GC-MS method has been developed and validated for the determination of boric acid in the drinking water by derivatization with triethanolamine. This analytic strategy successfully converts the inorganic, nonvolatile boric acid B(OH)₃ present in the drinking water to a volatile triethanolamine borate B(OCH₂CH₂)₃N in a quantitive manner, which facilitates the GC measurement. The SIM mode was applied in the analysis and showed high accuracy, specificity, and reproducibility, as well as reducing the matrix effect effectively. The calibration curve was obtained from 0.01 μg/mL to 10.0 μg/mL with a satisfactory correlation coefficient of 0.9988. The limit of detection for boric acid was 0.04 μg/L. Then the method was applied for detection of the amount of boric acid in bottled drinking water and the results are in accordance with the reported concentration value of boric acid. This study offers a perspective into the utility of GC-MS as an alternate quantitative tool for detection of B(OH)₃, even for detection of boron in various other samples by digesting the boron compounds to boric acid.     

Polyimide/polyoxometalate copolymer thin films: synthesis,thermal and dielectric properties

A mono‐lancunary keggin‐type decatungstosilicate (SiW₁₁) polyoxometalate (POM) modified by γ‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550) was incorporated into polyimide (PI) through copolymerization. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), fourier transition infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and wide angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) were used to characterize the structure and composition of the polyoxometalate–organosilane hybrid (SiW₁₁KH550) and PI/SiW₁₁KH550 copolymers. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies indicate that the glass transition temperature (T_g) of PI/SiW₁₁KH550 copolymers increases from 330°C (for neat PI) to 409°C (for the copolymer sample with 10 wt% of SiW₁₁KH550). Dielectric measurement showed that both the dielectric constant and the dielectric loss for the copolymer thin films decreased with the increase in SiW₁₁KH550 content, and the dielectric constant and dielectric loss values decreased to 2.1 and 3.54 × 10^?3, respectively, for the copolymer sample with 10 wt% of SiW₁₁KH550. The incorporation of SiW₁₁KH550 into polymer matrices is a promising approach to prepare PI films with a low dielectric constant and low dielectric loss. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two acylated flavonoid glycosides from the leaves of Quercus dentata

Two new acylated flavonoid glycosides have been isolated from the leaves of Quercus dentata Thunb. On the basis of chemical and spectral data, the structures of the compounds have been elucidated as kaempferol 3-O-(2", 4"-diacetyl-3"-cis-p-coumaroyl-6"-trans-p-coumaroyl)-beta-D-glucopyranoside (1), and kaempferol 3-O-(2"-trans-p-coumaroyl-3", 4"-diacetyl-6"-cisp-coumaroyl)-beta-D-glucopyranoside (2).     

CdSe量子点/核壳结构的制备及在敏化太阳能电池中的应用进展

综述了CdSe量子点和核-壳型量子点的制备及其在敏化太阳能电池方面的应用进展.     

乳香大环二萜类化学成分研究

采用硅胶柱层析,制备薄层层析等色谱方法,从乳香CO_2超临界提取物中分得7个大环二萜类化合物,经波谱方法鉴定为incensole acetate(1),incensole(2),incensole oxide acetate(3),isoincensole acetate(4),incensole oxide(5),isoincensoleoxide(6),isoincensolol(7),其中,化合物7为新化合物,化合物4为首次从该属植物中分离得到.采用四甲基偶氮唑蓝(MTT)法观察化合物对肿瘤细胞的抑制增殖作用.     

金属有机化合物中金属-配体键能的研究进展

介绍了金属有机物质热力学研究的进展,概述了过渡金属-配体键能的基本概念、估测方式、实验和理论研究方法.收集了已测得的第三副族到第八族所有中性金属有机络合物金属-配体σ-单键绝对键焓的实验值.对第三副族及锕系元素,收集了钪-氢、钪-碳、钍-氢、钍-碳、钍-氮、钍-氧、钍-硫、钍-氯、铀-氢、铀-碳、铀-硅、铀-氧、铀-氯、铀-溴、铀-碘、钐-氢、钐-碳、钐-硅、钐-氮、钐-磷、钐-氧、钐-硫、钐-氯、钐-溴和钐-碘键的键焓.对第四副族元素,收集了钛-碳、锆-氢、锆-碳、锆-硅、锆-氮、锆-氧、锆-氯、锆-碘、铪-氢、铪-碳键的键焓.对第五副族元素,收集了钒-氢、钽-碳键的键焓.对第六副族元素,收集了铬-氢、铬-碳、铬-硅、铬-氮、铬-氙、钼-氢、钼-碳、钼-硅、钼-氮、钼-磷、钼-氯、钼-溴、钼-碘、钼-氙、钨-氢、钨-碳、钨-硅、钨-氮、钨-氩、钨-氪、钨-氙键的键焓.对第七副族元素,收集了锰-氢、锰-碳、锰-硅、锰-氧、锰-硫、锰-氯、锰-溴、锰-碘、锝-氯、锝-溴、锝-碘、铼-氢、铼-碳、铼-氯、铼-溴、铼-碘键的键焓.对第八族元素,收集了铁-氢、铁-碳、铁-氮、铁-氩、铁-氪、铁-氙、钌-氢、钌-碳、钌-磷、锇-氢、锇-碳、钴-氢、钴-碳、铑-氢、铑-碳、铱-氢、铱-碳、铱-氯、铱-溴、铱-碘、镍-碳、镍-硫、钯-碳、铂-氢、铂-碳键的键焓.但未包括平均键焓值.此外,还收集了铁-氢、铁-碳、铁-氮、铁-磷、铁-羰基、铁-亚硝基、铁-氧分子、铁-硼、铁-铝、铁-镓、铁-铟、铁-铊键的理论计算值以及金属有机片断和离子的键焓.     

An electrochemically enhanced solid-phase microextraction approach based on a multi-walled carbon nanotubes/Nafion composite coating

In this paper, we proposed an approach using a multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/Nafion composite coating as a working electrode for the electrochemically enhanced solid-phase microextraction (EE-SPME) of charged compounds. Suitable negative and positive potentials were applied to enhance the extraction of cationic (protonated amines) and anionic compounds (deprotonated carboxylic acids) in aqueous solutions, respectively. Compared to the direct SPME mode (DI-SPME) (without applying potential), the EE-SPME presented more effective and selective extraction of charged analytes primarily via electrophoresis and complementary charge interaction. The experimental parameters relating to extraction efficiency of the EE-SPME such as applied potentials, extraction time, ionic strength, sample pH were studied and optimized. The linear dynamic range of developed EE-SPME-GC for the selected amines spanned three orders of magnitude (0.005–1 μg mL⁻¹) with R² larger than 0.9933, and the limits of detection were in the range of 0.048–0.070 ng mL⁻¹. All of these characteristics demonstrate that the proposed MWCNTs/Nafion EE-SPME is an efficient, flexible and versatile sampling and extraction tool which is ideally suited for use with chromatographic methods.