Superheating in linear polymers studied by ultrafast nanocalorimetry

To study phase transition kinetics on submillisecond time scale a sensitive ultrafast nanocalorimeter was constructed. Controlled ultrafast cooling, as well as heating, up to 10⁶K/s was attained. The method was applied for the measurements of the superheating phenomenon in a set of linear polymers: iPS, PBT, PET, and iPP. A power law relation between the superheating and the heating rate holds in the heating rate range 10^-2-10⁴K/s. A limiting superheating of about 10% of the melting temperature was observed at rates above 10⁴-10⁵K/s. This limit depends on annealing conditions before sample melting. The observed superheating limit, as well as the power law, can be accounted for the internal stresses near the crystalline amorphous interface in semicrystalline polymers induced by heating, which are related to the thermal expansion gradients inherent in a semicrystalline material.     

非平衡溶剂化新理论在有机染料电子光谱中的应用

总结了非平衡溶剂化新理论和在量子化学软件Q-Chem中基于含时密度泛函理论(TD-DFT)实现溶剂效应下计算电子吸收和发射光谱的数值解方法.采用该方法计算了染料敏化太阳能电池(DSSCs)中三苯胺型有机染料■在真空和乙腈溶剂中的电子结构与光谱性质,研究发现,π共轭桥上碳碳双键的个数和溶剂效应会促进光电转换.     

锂金属电池用高浓度电解液体系研究进展

锂金属二次电池具有极高的能量密度,是下一代储能电池的研究热点。然而,金属锂负极在传统碳酸酯电解液1 mol·L^?1 LiPF6-EC/DEC(ethylene carbonate/diethyl carbonate)中充放电时,存在严重的枝晶生长和循环效率低下等问题,阻碍了其商业化应用。因此,开发与锂负极兼容的新型电解液体系是目前重要的研究任务。与传统稀溶液相比,高浓度电解液体系具有独有的物化性质和优异的界面相容性,并且能有效抑制锂枝晶生长、显著提升锂负极的循环可逆性,因而格外受到关注。本文综述了高浓度电解液及局部高浓电解液体系的最新研究进展,分析了其溶液化学结构和物化性质,对其与锂负极的界面相容性、枝晶抑制效果、效率提升能力及界面稳定性机制进行了探讨;文章着重介绍了高浓与局部高浓电解液体系在锂金属二次电池中的应用,同时从基础科学研究和应用研究两个层面对高浓电解液和局部高浓电解液存在的主要问题进行了简要分析,并对其未来发展方向进行了展望。     

Solvent‐Dependent Cation Exchange in Metal–Organic Frameworks

We investigated which factors govern the critical steps of cation exchange in metal–organic frameworks by studying the effect of various solvents on the insertion of Ni²⁺ into MOF‐5 and Co²⁺ into MFU‐4l. After plotting the extent of cation insertion versus different solvent parameters, trends emerge that offer insight into the exchange processes for both systems. This approach establishes a method for understanding critical aspects of cation exchange in different MOFs and other materials.     

水环境对GC和AT碱基对质子转移的影响

采用B3LYP/DZP++的方法研究了第一水化层作用和连续化处理的水溶剂作用对鸟嘌呤-胞嘧啶(GC)碱基对和腺嘌呤-胸腺嘧啶(AT)碱基对质子转移反应的影响. GC和AT碱基对在连续化水溶剂作用下,均发生单质子转移(SPT1)和分步的双质子转移(DPT),而在第一水化层5 个水分子的作用下(GC·5H₂O,AT·5H₂O)或同时考虑第一水化层作用和连续化水溶剂作用(GC·5H₂O+PCM,AT·5H₂O+PCM)时,GC和AT碱基对的质子转移均只得到单质子转移反应(SPT1). 单质子转移过程中的活化能变化情况表明：第一水化层对GC和AT碱基对结构和质子转移影响较大,水环境对碱基对的作用主要发生在第一水化层.     

Effect of Protic Ionic Liquid and Surfactant Structure on Partitioning of Polyoxyethylene Non‐ionic Surfactants

The partitioning constants and Gibbs free energies of transfer of poly(oxyethylene) n‐alkyl ethers between dodecane and the protic ionic liquids (ILs) ethylammonium nitrate (EAN) and propylammonium nitrate (PAN) are determined. EAN and PAN have a sponge‐like nanostructure that consists of interpenetrating charged and apolar domains. This study reveals that the ILs solvate the hydrophobic and hydrophilic parts of the amphiphiles differently. The ethoxy groups are dissolved in the polar region of both ILs by means of hydrogen bonds. The environment is remarkably water‐like and, as in water, the solubility of the ethoxy groups in EAN decreases on warming, which underscores the critical role of the IL hydrogen‐bond network for solubility. In contrast, amphiphile alkyl chains are not preferentially solvated by the charged or uncharged regions of the ILs. Rather, they experience an average IL composition and, as a result, partitioning from dodecane into the IL increases as the cation alkyl chain is lengthened from ethyl to propyl, because the IL apolar volume fraction increases. Together, these results show that surfactant dissolution in ILs is related to structural compatibility between the head or tail group and the IL nanostructure. Thus, these partitioning studies reveal parameters for the effective molecular design of surfactants in ILs.     

A size-modified poisson–boltzmann ion channel model in a solvent of multiple ionic species: Application to voltage-dependent anion channel

We present a new size-modified Poisson–Boltzmann ion channel (SMPBIC) model and use it to calculate the electrostatic potential, ionic concentrations, and electrostatic solvation free energy for a voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) on a biological membrane in a solution mixture of multiple ionic species. In particular, the new SMPBIC model adopts a membrane surface charge density and a natural Neumann boundary condition to reflect the charge effect of the membrane on the electrostatics of VDAC. To avoid the singularity difficulties caused by the atomic charges of VDAC, the new SMPBIC model is split into three submodels such that the solution of one of the submodels is obtained analytically and contains all the singularity points of the SMPBIC model. The other two submodels are then solved numerically much more efficiently than the original SMPBIC model. As an application of this SMPBIC submodel partitioning scheme, we derive a new formula for computing the electrostatic solvation free energy. Numerical results for a human VDAC isoform 1 (hVDAC1) in three different salt solutions, each with up to five different ionic species, confirm the significant effects of membrane surface charges on both the electrostatics and ionic concentrations. The results also show that the new SMPBIC model can describe well the anion selectivity property of hVDAC1, and that the new electrostatic solvation free energy formula can significantly improve the accuracy of the currently used formula. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Ab-initio molecular dynamics and hybrid explicit-implicit solvation model for aqueous and nonaqueous solvents: GFP chromophore in water and methanol solution as case study

Solute–solvent interactions are proxies for understanding how the electronic density of a chromophore interacts with the environment in a more exhaustive way. The subtle balance between polarization, electrostatic, and non-bonded interactions need to be accurately described to obtain good agreement between simulations and experiments. First principles approaches providing accurate configurational sampling through molecular dynamics may be a suitable choice to describe solvent effects on solute chemical–physical properties and spectroscopic features, such as optical absorption of dyes. In this context, accurate energy potentials, obtained by hybrid implicit/explicit solvation methods along with employing nonperiodic boundary conditions, are required to represent bulk solvent around a large solute–solvent cluster. In this work, a novel strategy to simulate methanol solutions is proposed combining ab initio molecular dynamics, a hybrid implicit/explicit flexible solvent model, nonperiodic boundary conditions, and time dependent density functional theory. As case study, the robustness of the proposed protocol has been gauged by investigating the microsolvation and electronic absorption of the anionic green fluorescent protein chromophore in methanol and aqueous solution. Satisfactory results are obtained, reproducing the microsolvation layout of the chromophore and, as a consequence, the experimental trends shown by the optical absorption in different solvents.     

Solvation Rule for Solid‐Electrolyte Interphase Enabler in Lithium‐Metal Batteries

Despite the exceptionally high energy density of lithium metal anodes, the practical application of lithium‐metal batteries (LMBs) is still impeded by the instability of the interphase between the lithium metal and the electrolyte. To formulate a functional electrolyte system that can stabilize the lithium‐metal anode, the solvation behavior of the solvent molecules must be understood because the electrochemical properties of a solvent can be heavily influenced by its solvation status. We unambiguously demonstrated the solvation rule for the solid‐electrolyte interphase (SEI) enabler in an electrolyte system. In this study, fluoroethylene carbonate was used as the SEI enabler due to its ability to form a robust SEI on the lithium metal surface, allowing relatively stable LMB cycling. The results revealed that the solvation number of fluoroethylene carbonate must be ≥1 to ensure the formation of a stable SEI in which the sacrificial reduction of the SEI enabler subsequently leads to the stable cycling of LMBs.