Sonocatalytic injury of cancer cells attached on the surface of a nickel–titanium dioxide alloy plate

The present study demonstrates ultrasound-induced cell injury using a nickel–titanium dioxide (Ni–TiO₂) alloy plate as a sonocatalyst and a cell culture surface. Ultrasound irradiation of cell-free Ni–TiO₂ alloy plates with 1 MHz ultrasound at 0.5 W/cm² for 30 s led to an increased generation of hydroxyl (OH) radicals compared to nickel–titanium (Ni–Ti) control alloy plates with and without ultrasound irradiation. When human breast cancer cells (MCF-7 cells) cultured on the Ni–TiO₂ alloy plates were irradiated with 1 MHz ultrasound at 0.5 W/cm² for 30 s and then incubated for 48 h, cell density on the alloy plate was reduced to approximately 50% of the controls on the Ni–Ti alloy plates with and without ultrasound irradiation. These results indicate the injury of MCF-7 cells following sonocatalytic OH radical generation by Ni–TiO₂. Further experiments demonstrated cell shrinkage and chromatin condensation after ultrasound irradiation of MCF-7 cells attached on the Ni–TiO₂ alloy plates, indicating induction of apoptosis.     

Spin‐polarized electron gas in Co2M Si/SrTiO3 (M = Ti,V, Cr,Mn, and Fe) heterostructures

Spin‐polarized density functional theory is used to study the TiO₂ terminated interfaces between the magnetic Heusler alloys Co₂Si (M = Ti, V, Cr, Mn, and Fe) and the non‐polar band insulator SrTiO₃. The structural relaxation at the interface turns out to depend systematically on the lattice mis‐ match. Charge transfer from the Heusler alloys (mainly the M 3d orbitals) to the Ti d_xy orbitals of the TiO₂ interface layer is found to gradually grow from M = Ti to Fe, resulting in an electron gas with increasing density of spin‐polarized charge carriers. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

电沉积制备的PtNi纳米粒子用于氧还原反应:成核和生长机理

质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFCs)电堆中阴极Pt基催化剂的高用量造成其成本居高不下,成为阻碍燃料电池汽车商业化推进的重要原因,因此开发低Pt、高活性的Pt基催化剂势在必行.Pt合金催化剂能够有效地降低Pt用量,并通过对合金颗粒的元素比例、晶面、粒径等实行精确调控,显著提升氧还原(ORR)催化活性.然而,目前常用的制备方法由于原料与制备成本高昂、过程复杂大都难以适应规模化生产需求.电化学方法通过控制施加的电流或电位控制晶体生长.在水体系中该方法已得到验证,但由于Pt化合物的热力学标准电极电位与过渡金属元素之间相差较大,且对于过渡金属来说,电负性大多小于铂,因此还原电位通常负于析氢电位,使得二者难以实现共沉积.有机体系中电位窗口比水体系大得多,Pt与电位较负的过渡金属可实现共沉积,采用小分子有机溶剂也可避免溶剂清洗问题,具有应用潜力.本文提出了一种简单的一步电沉积方法,选择易溶于水的N,N-二甲基甲酰胺(DMF)作为溶剂,将碳载体滴涂到玻碳电极上作为工作电极,通过电化学方法直接将Pt-Ni合金沉积到碳载体上,并利用物化表征与密度泛函理论(DFT)理论计算来探究共沉积机理.透射电镜表征结果表明,在不同的沉积电位下均可得到分散均匀、粒径适当的催化剂;且随着电位值降低,催化剂颗粒分散得更均匀,颗粒粒径不断减小.元素分布和晶面结果表明,铂镍元素均匀分布于颗粒中.所有样品均表现出优异的ORR性能,最高的面积比活性达到商业催化剂的6.85倍.将材料表征、电化学表征与DFT计算结合,建立起了铂镍合金生长过程的模型,并发现了有机体系中独特的成核-生长机理.将体系中的DMF换成超纯水,用同样的方法进行沉积,得到的催化剂颗粒团聚严重,说明DMF的使用能够避免颗粒团聚.在单独铂的体系中沉积发现,负载量极小,表明体系中镍前驱体的添加对于催化剂的沉积过程起到重要作用.电化学表征结果表明,在所选用的DMF有机体系中,镍的还原电位与铂的十分接近,但还原动力学更慢,趋向于先形成吸附原子后快速还原.由此可以推测,在二者合金的形成过程中,镍在碳载体表面的缓慢还原而形成的吸附原子能够成为铂还原的活性位点,从而降低了铂还原成核所需的能量,使得载体上的成核位点大大增加,这与DFT模拟结果一致.DFT建立了碳上镍的位点和铂的位点,分别在上面进行铂的还原,发现镍位点上比铂位点上更容易实现铂沉积.本文提出了铂镍共沉积的机理:在过电位(即还原能量)下,铂的还原动力学较镍稍快,于是铂先还原形成晶核,但难以达到生长的临界半径,于是单独铂体系中的沉积负载量很少.载体上还原的镍为铂还原提供了大量的活性位点,促进了铂还原,并与镍共沉积.Pt-Ni表面则进一步促进了铂的沉积和颗粒的生长.综上,本文提出了一种用于制备铂合金催化剂的有机电沉积体系,实现了单分散的碳载铂镍合金催化剂的一步制备.随后,本文将材料表征、电化学表征与DFT计算相结合,建立起了有机体系中铂镍合金成核-生长过程的机理模型.     

限域NiCo合金纳米颗粒高效催化生物质衍生物水相加氢脱氧

将储量丰富的生物质及其衍生物转化为具有高附加值的燃料和化学品被认为是一种有前景的绿色途径,可以极大地减少人们对传统化石资源的依赖.作为木质纤维素热解的直接产物和生物油升级的模型化合物,香草醛可以通过加氢脱氧(HDO)过程选择性地转化为2-甲氧基-4-甲基苯酚(MMP).MMP是一种有价值的化学品,常用于香料和药物等重要中间体的合成.在过去十年里,大量的金属催化剂被用来催化香草醛HDO转化为MMP.其中,贵金属(Pt,Pd,Ru和Au)虽然活性高,但是其储量低、价格昂贵,不利于工业化应用;而非贵金属(Fe,Co,Ni和Cu)的催化活性普遍较低,需要苛刻的反应条件来提高转化效率和选择性.此外,这类HDO反应大都在有机溶剂中进行,容易造成环境污染.因此,开发高效、稳定的非贵金属催化剂用于水相HDO反应是一个巨大的挑战.一般来说,合金纳米颗粒(NPs)具有强烈的协同效应,能产生良好的配位结构和电子环境,从而显著提升催化活性和选择性.基于此,本文首次采用了一种简单可控的合成方法来制备三聚氰胺海绵负载的氮掺杂碳纳米管(N-CNTs)限域的Ni-Co合金NPs(NiCo@N-CNTs/CMF)催化剂.该催化剂具有优异的HDO性能,在2 MPa H2,120oC反应6 h条件下,能在水相中将生物质衍生的香草醛高效转化为MMP,转化率和选择性均达到100％.相比于单金属的Ni@N-CNTs/CMF和Co@N-CNTs/CMF催化剂,香草醛转化率和MMP选择性都有大幅度的提高.而且,在温和的反应条件下,该催化剂对香草醛衍生物和其他芳香醛类化合物同样表现出优异的HDO性能,拥有100％的转化率以及较高的MMP选择性(91.5％～100％).XPS结果表明,Ni-Co形成合金后发生了电子结构的偏移,即Co原子可以从邻近的Ni原子处得到电子,提高Co电子云密度,从而促进对香草醛中C=O键的吸附.DFT计算结果表明,相比于单金属的Ni和Co,Ni-Co合金化后能显著提高对C=O键的选择性吸附和活化.同时,H2解离后形成的活性H*物种在Ni-Co合金NPs表面更容易脱附并参与催化反应.因此,Ni-Co@N-CNTs/CMF催化剂优异的HDO性能主要是由于Ni-Co合金NPs的协同作用大大促进了其对C=O键的选择性吸附和活化,以及活化氢物种的脱附.本文为设计和制备高效的非贵金属催化剂应用于水相的HDO反应提供了一个新策略.     

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy study on reversion of Al2CuMg precipitates in Al–Cu–Mg alloys under irradiation

Image deconvolution analyses showed that reversion of S-Al₂CuMg precipitates occurred in an Al–Cu–Mg alloy during high-resolution transmission electron microscopy observations. A fraction of Mg and Cu atoms in the precipitates diffused into Al matrix due to electron beam irradiation at 300 kV, resulting in structural/chemical reversion of the precipitates. The structural reversion of the S-Al₂CuMg precipitates is closely related with irradiation-induced displacement of atoms. The strong attraction between Cu and Mg atoms might assist the sub-threshold displacement of Cu atoms. One transitional structure is determined to be S′′-Al₁₀Cu₃Mg₃, a precursor of S-Al₂CuMg. Two other transitional structures, Al₃CuMg and Al₁₈Cu₅Mg₅ which have the same lattice parameters of a = c = 0.405 nm as that of S′′-Al₁₀Cu₃Mg₃, but different b values, are suggested.     

飞秒激光冲击AZ31B镁合金过程的数值模拟

采用有限元分析法对飞秒激光冲击AZ31B镁合金进行数值模拟,研究了激光冲击处理对镁合金变形过程的影响,分析了单脉冲激光冲击下材料内部的位移、动能、应力和应变的分布情况,得到了材料的瞬态速度和应变率变化过程.仿真结果表明,单脉冲飞秒激光冲击镁合金产生的塑性变形,可在材料表面形成微米级凹坑,中心点处最大位移为34μm,最大变形速度390m/s;在冲击初期,材料表面的应力和应变主要分布在冲击区域中心节点和边缘附近,并且得到镁合金的最大应力和最大应变率分别为955 MPa和1.8×106 s-1.研究结果能够为深入分析飞秒激光与镁合金作用时材料变形参量的变化规律提供数值理论依据.     

Catalytic and kinetic spectrophotometric method for determination of vanadium(V) by 2,3,4-trihydroxyacetophenonephenylhydrazone

A new catalytic and kinetic spectrophotometric method for the determination of vanadium(V) was studied using 2,3,4-trihydroxyacetophenonephenylhydrazone (THAPPH) as an analytical reagent. The present method was developed on the catalytic effect of vanadium on oxidation of THAPPH by hydrogen peroxide in hydrochloric acid–potassium chloride buffer (pH = 2.8) at the 20th minute. The metal ion has formed 1:2 (M:L) complex with THAPPH. Beer’s law was obeyed in the range 20–120 ng/mL of V(V) at λ_max 390 nm. The sensitivity of the method was calculated in terms of molar absorptivity (1.999 × 10⁵ L mol⁻¹cm⁻¹) and Sandell’s sensitivity (0.000254 μg cm⁻²), shows that this method is more sensitive. The standard deviation (0.0022), relative standard deviation (0.56%), confidence limit (±0.0015) and standard error (0.0007) revealed that the developed method has more precision and accuracy. The stability constant was calculated with the help of Asmu’s (9.411 × 10⁻¹¹) and Edmond’s & Birnbaum’s (9.504 × 10⁻¹¹) methods at room temperature. The interfering effect of various cations and anions was also studied. The present method was successfully applied for the determination of vanadium(V) in environmental and alloy samples. The method’s validity was checked by comparing the results obtained with atomic-absorption spectrophotometry and also by evaluation of results using F-test.     

ITO上AuPd合金和Au阵列图案的制备及电催化活性的SECM表征

利用电化学湿法印章技术在氧化铟锡(ITO)导电玻璃上制备AuPd合金和Au的双组分阵列图案. 采用具有微浮雕图案的琼脂糖印章存储足够多的溶液,并通过控制电沉积的时间来控制图案厚度. 应用场发射扫描电子显微镜(FE-SEM),X射线能谱分析(EDX)和原子力显微镜(AFM)分别对ITO表面上的AuPd合金和Au的形貌和组分进行表征,并通过循环伏安(CV)技术和扫描电化学显微镜(SECM)研究比较了Au和AuPd合金的催化活性. 利用扫描电化学显微镜(SECM)的针尖产生-基底收集(TG-SC)模式和氧化还原竞争(RC)模式,发现Au电极对二茂铁甲醇氧化物(FcMeOH⁺)电催化还原能力高于AuPd合金电极,而在AuPd合金上催化还原H₂O₂的能力显著高于Au.     

铝合金表面电偶腐蚀与电子功函数的关系

铝合金中经常会引入一些第二相来改善其性能,第二相由于和铝基体的电位差不同,将会对铝合金的局部腐蚀产生重大的影响.为了揭示铝合金腐蚀的物理本质,本文利用基于密度泛函理论第一性原理的计算方法,详细计算了铝合金中一些主要第二相(Al_2Cu、Al_3Ti和Al_7Cu_2Fe)的多种晶面的电子功函数,分析了电子从各个晶面逸出的难易,求得了第二相与Al基体的本征电势差,我们发现不同的晶面暴露在合金最外层,会显著地影响本征电势差;即便是同一晶面,暴露在最外层的原子种类和构型不同,对腐蚀的影响也不一样.从电子的层面解释了电偶腐蚀发生的原因.