3D crumbled MXene for high-performance supercapacitors

MXene materials have recently attracted considerable attention in energy storage application owing to their metallic conductivity, 2D structure and tunable surface terminations. However, the restacking of 2D MXene nanosheets hinders the ion transport and accessibility to the surface, resulting in adverse effect on their electrochemical performances. Here, with the assistance of hexamethylenetetramine (C₆H₁₂N₄), 2D Ti₃C₂T_x MXene nanosheets were fabricated into a 3D architecture with crumbled and porous structure through an electrostatic self-assembly followed by annealing. The resultant 3D structure can expose massive active sites and facilitates the ion transport, which is beneficial for sufficient utilization of the outstanding superiorities of the MXene. Therefore, as a pseudocapacitive material, the 3D crumpled and porous Ti₃C₂T_x MXene shows a gravimetric capacitance of 333 F/g at 1 A/g, and maintains 261 F/g and 132 F/g at ultrahigh current densities of 100 A/g and 1000 A/g, respectively, revealing promising potential for application in supercapacitors.     

SiHCl3-H2气相外延生长Si单晶反应机理的理论研究

采用密度泛函理论计算方法, 在B3LYP/6-311G*水平下, 计算并得到了SiHCl3与H2反应各反应通道上各驻点的构型、振动频率和能量. 结果表明, 在气相中SiHCl3分解的通道d和SiHCl3与H2反应的通道c为竞争反应, 但其均未还原出Si原子, 只有衬底Si参与SiHCl3-H2的反应, Si原子才淀积在Si衬底上.     

Effect of added donor ligands on the selective oxygenation of organic sulfides by oxo(salen)chromium(V) complexes

Oxo(salen)chromium(V) complexes, [(salen)Cr^VO]⁺, oxidize organic sulfides selectively to sulfoxides in high yield. This oxygenation reaction is catalyzed by ligand oxides (LO's), pyridine N-oxide, 4-picoline N-oxide, 4-phenyl pyridine N-oxide and triphenylphosphine oxide. The rate is accelerated by 10-20 times with an increase in yield of sulfoxide in less reaction time. This catalytic activity is highly sensitive to the nature of the substituent in the phenyl ring of ArSMe and in the 3- and 5-position of the salen ligand. The reaction constant (ρ) value obtained with the ligand oxide catalyzed reaction is low compared to the value in the absence of LO. The strong binding and catalytic activity of ligand oxides on the oxo(salen)chromium(V) ion oxygenation is explained in terms of binding constants and a mechanism involving the electrophilic attack of [(salen)Cr^VO]⁺-LO adduct on the sulfur centre of phenyl methyl sulfide.     

Co1−xFe2+xO4 (x = 0.1, 0.2) anode materials for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries

A cobalt-poor or iron rich bicomponent mixture of Co_0.9Fe_2.1O₄/Fe₂O₃ and Co_0.8Fe_2.2O₄/Fe₂O₃ anode materials have been successfully prepared using simple, cost-effective, and scalable urea-assisted auto-combustion synthesis. The threshold limit of lower cobalt stoichiometry in CoFe₂O₄ that leads to impressive electrochemical performance was identified. The electrochemical performance shows that the Co_0.9Fe_2.1O₄/Fe₂O₃ electrode exhibits high capacity and rate capability in comparison to a Co_0.8Fe_2.2O₄/Fe₂O₃ electrode, and the obtained data is comparable with that reported for cobalt-rich CoFe₂O₄. The better rate performance of the Co_0.9Fe_2.1O₄/Fe₂O₃ electrode is ascribed to its unique stoichiometry, which intimately prefers the combination of Fe₂O₃ with Co_1−xFe_2+xO₄ and the high electrical conductivity. Further, the high reversible capacity in Co_0.9Fe_2.1O₄/Fe₂O₃ and Co_0.8Fe_2.2O₄/Fe₂O₃ electrodes is most likely attributed to the synergistic electrochemical activity of both the nanostructured materials (Co_1−xFe_2+xO₄ and Fe₂O₃), reaching beyond the well-established mechanisms of charge storage in these two phases.     

First principles calculations of oxygen reduction reaction at fuel cell cathodes

The efficiency of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) depends critically on materials, in particular for the cathode where the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) occurs. Typically, mixed conducting perovskite ABO₃-type materials are used for this purpose. The dominating surface terminations are (001) AO and BO₂, with the relative fractions depending on materials composition and ambient conditions.Here, results of recent large-scale first principles (ab initio) calculations for the two alternative polar (La,Sr)O and MnO₂ (001) terminations of (La,Sr)MnO₃ cathode materials are discussed. The surface oxygen vacancy concentration for the (La,Sr)O termination is more than 5 orders of magnitude smaller compared to MnO₂, which leads to drastically decreased estimated ORR rates. Thus, it is predicted for prototypical SOFC cathode materials that the BO₂ termination largely determines the ORR kinetics, although with Sr surface segregation (long-term degradation) its fraction of the total surface area decreases, which slows down cathode kinetics.     

Kinetics Study on Reaction between Dihydroartemisinic Acid and Singlet Oxygen: An Essential Step to Photochemical Synthesis of Artemisinin

Artemisinin is an excellent antimalarial drug widely used in clinical medicine. However, due to the limitation of natural source of artemisinin, the chemical synthesis of artemisinin has achieved substantial attention. Dihydroartemisinic acid is a key precursor for the synthesis of artemisinin. The reaction of dihydroartemisinic acid with singlet oxygen to form peroxide is a pivotal step in the photochemical preparation of artemisinin. Nevertheless, the reaction kinetics of dihydroartemisinic acid with singlet oxygen has not been investigated previously. Herein, we report the rate constants of the reaction between dihydroartemisinic acid and singlet oxygen. By directly detecting the luminescence decay kinetics of singlet oxygen at 1270 nm at room temperature, the reaction rate constants of singlet oxygen and dihydroartemisinic acid in different solvents are obtained to be 1.81\begin{document}$\times$\end{document}10\begin{document}$^5$\end{document} (mol/L)^-1·s^-1 in CCl\begin{document}$_4$\end{document}, 5.69\begin{document}$\times$\end{document}10\begin{document}$^5$\end{document} (mol/L)^-1·s^-1 in CH\begin{document}$_3$\end{document}CN, and 3.27\begin{document}$\times$\end{document}10\begin{document}$^6$\end{document} (mol/L)^-1·s^-1 in DMSO, respectively. It is found that the reaction rate constants of dihydroartemisinic acid with singlet oxygen increase as polarity of the solvent increases among the three solvents. These results provide fundamental knowledge to optimize experiment conditions of photochemical synthesis of artemisinin for improving the yields of artemisinin.     

Pulse radiolysis study of the initial steps of the polymerization of cyclohexyl acrylate and cyclohexyl methacrylate

Pulse radiolysis with kinetic spectroscopic detection was applied to study the kinetics of the first steps of radiation induced polymerization of cyclohexyl acrylate and cyclohexyl methacrylate in cyclohexane solvent. The reactions were initiated by cyclohexyl radicals produced in the radiolysis of the solvent. The transient absorption spectra of the -carboxyalkyl type radicals produced in addition reaction show maxima around 300 nm. This shifts to longer wavelength with time after the pulse. This phenomenon was explained by the oligomerization reaction. From the kinetic curves average rate coefficients of termination for the oligomer radicals (2k_t) were determined as a function of time elapsed after the electron pulse. The values obtained were compared with those calculated for other (acrylate and methacrylate type) monomers.     

破乳剂对油水界面膜作用机理研究

研究了破乳剂存在下油膜寿命、油膜薄化速率以及油水界面性质与破乳效果的关系.结果表明,破乳剂使油水界面弹性降低,导致油水界面强度减弱,界面膜寿命变短,界面膜厚度变薄.当膜厚度变薄到一临界值时,膜破裂,导致破乳脱水.同种破乳剂,随着其浓度的增加,界面弹性降低.当浓度超过某一值时,界面弹性值基本不变.不同种破乳剂,界面弹性降低幅度越大,其破乳效果越好.界面弹性值可以很好解释破乳剂的脱水率变化规律.     

静电自组装方法合成的具有多孔三维网络结构的Fe_3O_4/石墨烯复合材料作为高性能锂离子电池负极材料(英文)

采用静电自组装方法,分两步合成Fe(OH)3/GO前驱体(GO:氧化石墨烯),再通过水热反应和600°C高纯氮气气氛下煅烧,获得了Fe3O4/石墨烯复合材料.通过X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描电镜(SEM)、高分辨透射电镜(HRTEM)、拉曼(Raman)光谱等多种分析,发现该复合材料具有三维多孔石墨烯网络结构.把合成的这种Fe3O4/石墨烯复合材料作为锂离子电池负极材料,电化学测试结果表明其具有优良的电化学性能:首次放电容量为1390 mAh·g-1,50次循环后容量为819 mAh·g-1.通过对比实验表明,三维石墨烯网络结构的形成对复合材料的电化学循环稳定性起着关键作用.     

RATE OF INTRA-MOLECULAR CONTACT FORMATION IN SHORT TWO-DIMENSIONAL COMPACT POLYMERS CHAINS

It is important to know the rate of intra-molecular contact formation in proteins in order to understand how proteins fold clearly. Here we investigate the rate of intra-molecular contact formation in short two-dimensional compact polymer chains by calculating the probability distribution p(r) of end-to-end distance r using the enumeration calculation method and HP model on two-dimensional square lattice. The probability distribution of end-to-end distance p(r) of short two-dimensional compact polymers chains may consist of two parts, i.e. p(r) = p1(r) p2(r), where p1(r) and p2(r) are different for small r. The rate of contact formation decreases monotonically with the number of bonds N, and the rate approximately conforms to the scaling relation of k(N) ∝ N-α. Here the value of α increases with the contact radius a and it also depends on the percentage of H (hydrophobic) residues in the sequences of compact chains and the energy parameters of εHH, εHP and εPP . Some comparisons of theoretical predictions with experimental results are also made. This investigation may help us to understand the protein folding.