Thermogravimetric analysis of cellulose insulation and determination of activation energy of its thermo‐oxidation using non‐isothermal,model‐free methods

The aim of the work was to determine the effect of heating rate on initial decomposition temperature and phases of thermal decomposition of cellulose insulation. The activation energy of thermo‐oxidation of insulation was also determined. Individual samples were heated in the air flow in the thermal range of 100°C to 500°C at rates from 1.9°C min^?1 to 20.1°C min^?1. The initial temperatures of thermal decomposition ranged from 220°C to 320°C, depending on the heating rate. Three regions of thermal decomposition were observed. The maximum rates of mass loss were measured at the temperatures between 288°C and 362°C. The activation energies, which achieved average values between 75 and 80.7 kJ mol^?1, were calculated from the obtained results by non‐isothermal, model‐free methods. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of the activation time effects and the internal energy distributions for the CID,PQD and HCD excitation modes

Reproducibility among different types of excitation modes is a major bottleneck in the field of tandem mass spectrometry library development in metabolomics. In this study, we specifically evaluated the influence of collision voltage and activation time parameters on tandem mass spectrometry spectra for various excitation modes [collision‐induced dissociation (CID), pulsed Q dissociation (PQD) and higher‐energy collision dissociation (HCD)] of Orbitrap‐based instruments. For this purpose, internal energy deposition was probed using an approach based on Rice–Rampserger–Kassel–Marcus modeling with three thermometer compounds of different degree of freedom (69, 228 and 420) and a thermal model. This model treats consecutively the activation and decomposition steps, and the survival precursor ion populations are characterized by truncated Maxwell–Boltzmann internal energy distributions. This study demonstrates that the activation time has a significant impact on MS/MS spectra using the CID and PQD modes. The proposed model seems suitable to describe the multiple collision regime in the PQD and HCD modes. Linear relationships between mean internal energy and collision voltage are shown for the latter modes and the three thermometer molecules. These results suggest that a calibration based on the collision voltage should provide reproducible for PQD, HCD to be compared with CID in tandem in space instruments. However, an important signal loss is observed in PQD excitation mode whatever the mass of the studied compounds, which may affect not only parent ions but also fragment ions depending on the fragmentation parameters. A calibration approach for the CID mode based on the variation of activation time parameter is more appropriate than one based on collision voltage. In fact, the activation time parameter in CID induces a modification of the collisional regime and thus helps control the orientation of the fragmentation pathways (competitive or consecutive dissociations). Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Low temperature synthesis and luminescence investigations of YAG:Ce,Eu nanocomposite powder for warm white light-emitting diode

The preparation of the cerium and europium co-doped YAG materials as well as the study for their synthesis and emitting mechanism of the energy transfer between Ce³⁺ and Eu³⁺ were investigated in the present study. YAG:Ce³⁺, Eu³⁺ powders were synthesized using a high-energy ball milling method in different sintering temperature and atmosphere: air and H₂/N₂. The effects of the synthesis procedure on the crystallinity, morphology, structure, and luminescence spectra were examined by X-ray diffraction, field emission-scanning electron microscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The europium co-doped YAG:Ce³⁺ phosphors is improved the chromaticity coordinates.     

DFT study of the electronic and charge transfer properties of perfluoroarene–thiophene oligomers

The ground state structures of 5,5″-diperfluorophenyl-2,2′:5′,2″:5″,2‴-quaterthiophene (1), 5,5′-bis{1-[4-(thien-2-yl)perfluorophenyl]}-2,2′-dithiophene (2), 4,4′-bis[5-(2,2′-dithiophenyl)]-perfluorobiphenyl (3), 5,5″-diperfluorophenyl-2,2′:5′,2″-tertthiophene (4), 5,5′-diperfluorophenyl-2,2′-dihiophene (5), and 5,5-diperfluorophenylthiophene (6) have been optimized at the B3LYP/6-31G(d), B3LYP/6-31G(d,p), PBE0/6-31G(d), and PBE0/6-31G(d,p) level of theories. The B3LYP/6-31+G(d) and PBE0/6-31+G(d) level of theories have been applied to investigate the absorption spectra. The PBE0 functional is good to predict the C–S bond lengths while the C–F bond lengths are good envisaged with B3LYP functional. The increment of thiophene rings between two perfluoroarene rings leads to red shift in absorption spectra. The electron affinities are energetically destabilized while energetic stabilization of the radical-cation increases by decreasing the thiophene rings from four to one. The perfluoroarene rings leads to enhance the electron injection.     

Effect of pH value on the growth morphology of KH2PO4 crystal grown in defined crystallographic direction

KH₂PO₄ single crystals were grown in aqueous solution at different pH values by using “point seeds” with a defined crystallographic direction at 59 degree to the Z axis. Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) was applied to observe the surface morphology of (100) face. It was found that at the same supersaturation, the larger steps appeared at the lower pH value before appearance of 2D nucleus. We found that 2D nucleus was occurred at σ ≤ 0.04 when pH value is <2.8. The occurrence of 2D nucleus was caused by the decreasing step‐edge free energy with the decreasing of pH value in the growth solution. In this paper, we observed the morphologies of (100) faces of KDP crystals which grew in solutions with different pH values. 2D nucleuses appeared on the terrace of growth steps when pH value down to 2.8 and 3.2 at supersaturation of 0.04, while pH value down to 2.4, only 2D nucleation control the growth. Therefore, the pH value can change the growth mechanism of KDP crystals.     

Colloidal hybrid heterostructures based on II–VI semiconductor nanocrystals for photocatalytic hydrogen generation

Hydrogen generated through the photochemical cleavage of water using renewable solar energy is considered to be an environmentally friendly chemical fuel of the future, which neither results in air pollution nor leads to the emission of greenhouse gases. The photocatalytic materials for water cleavage are required to perform at least two fundamental functions: light harvesting of the maximal possible part of the solar energy spectrum and a catalytic function for efficient water decomposition into oxygen and hydrogen. Photocatalytic systems based on colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals offer a number of advantages in comparison with photoelectrochemical cells based on bulk electrodes: (i) a broad range of material types are available; (ii) higher efficiencies are expected due to short distance charge transport; (iii) large surface areas are beneficial for the catalytic processes; (iv) flexibility in fabrication and design which also allows for tuning of the electronic and optical properties by employing quantum confinement effects. The presence of co-catalysts on colloidal semiconductors is an important part of the overall design of the photocatalytic colloidal systems necessary to maximize the water splitting efficiency. This review article discusses the rational choice of colloidal nanoheterostructured materials based on light-harvesting II–VI semiconductor nanocrystals combined with a variety of metal and/or non-metal co-catalysts, with optimized light harvesting, charge separation, and photocatalytic functions.     

Visible‐Light Sensitization of Vinyl Azides by Transition‐Metal Photocatalysis

Irradiation of vinyl and aryl azides with visible light in the presence of Ru photocatalysts results in the formation of reactive nitrenes, which can undergo a variety of C? N bond‐forming reactions. The ability to use low‐energy visible light instead of UV in the photochemical activation of azides avoids competitive photodecomposition processes that have long been a significant limitation on the synthetic use of these reactions.     

Single‐Layered Ultrasmall Nanoplates of MoS2 Embedded in Carbon Nanofibers with Excellent Electrochemical Performance for Lithium and Sodium Storage

The preparation and electrochemical storage behavior of MoS₂ nanodots—more precisely single‐layered ultrasmall nanoplates—embedded in carbon nanowires has been studied. The preparation is achieved by an electrospinning process that can be easily scaled up. The rate performance and cycling stability of both lithium and sodium storage were found to be outstanding. The storage behavior is, moreover, highly exciting from a fundamental point of view, as the differences between the usual storage modes—insertion, conversion, interfacial storage—are beneficially blurred. The restriction to ultrasmall reaction domains allows for an almost diffusion‐less and nucleation‐free “conversion”, thereby resulting in a high capacity and a remarkable cycling performance.     

Zinc‐Catalyzed Depolymerization of End‐of‐Life Polysiloxanes

Polymers occupy an important role in our current society. Besides their great success, an issue is the accumulation of huge amounts of end‐of‐life polymers. Currently, the waste management is based primarily on landfills, thermal recycling, and downcycling. Notably, only a small portion of end‐of‐life materials is recycled by depolymerization, which refers to the creation of synthetic precursors that can be polymerized to new polymers to close the cycle. Widely used polymers in modern times are silicones (polysiloxanes), the intrinsic properties of which make their depolymerization demanding; only a few high‐temperature or less environmentally friendly processes have been reported. In this regard, we have established an efficient low‐temperature protocol for the depolymerization of silicones with benzoyl fluoride in the presence of cheap zinc salts as precatalysts to yield defined products. Notably, the products can be useful synthetic precursors for the preparation of new polymers, so that an overall recycling process is feasible.     

Molecular Engineering of Push–Pull Porphyrin Dyes for Highly Efficient Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells: The Role of Benzene Spacers

Porphyrins have drawn much attention as sensitizers owing to the large absorption coefficients of their Soret and Q bands in the visible region. In a donor and acceptor zinc porphyrin we applied a new strategy of introducing 2,1,3‐benzothiadiazole (BTD) as a π‐conjugated linker between the anchoring group and the porphyrin chromophore to broaden the absorption spectra to fill the valley between the Soret and Q bands. With this novel approach, we observed 12.75 % power‐conversion efficiency under simulated one‐sun illumination (AM1.5G, 100 mW cm^?2). In this study, we showed the importance of introducing the phenyl group as a spacer between the BTD and the zinc porphyrin in achieving high power‐conversion efficiencies. Time‐resolved fluorescence, transient‐photocurrent‐decay, and transient‐photovoltage‐decay measurements were employed to determine the electron‐injection dynamics and the lifetime of the photogenerated charge carriers.