A Novel M8L6 Cubic Cage That Binds Tetrapyridyl Porphyrins: Cage and Solvent Effects in Cobalt-Porphyrin-Catalyzed Cyclopropanation Reactions

Confinement of a catalyst can have a significant impact on catalytic performance and can lead to otherwise difficult to achieve catalyst properties. Herein, we report the design and synthesis of a novel caged catalyst system Co−G@Fe₈(Zn−L ⋅ 1)₆ , which is soluble in both polar and apolar solvents without the necessity of any post-functionalization. This is a rare example of a metal-coordination cage able to bind catalytically active porphyrins that is soluble in solvents spanning a wide variety of polarity. This system was used to investigate the combined effects of the solvent and the cage on the catalytic performance in the cobalt catalyzed cyclopropanation of styrene, which involves radical intermediates. Kinetic studies show that DMF has a protective influence on the catalyst, slowing down deactivation of both [Co(TPP)] and Co−G@Fe₈(Zn−L ⋅ 1)₆ , leading to higher TONs in this solvent. Moreover, DFT studies on the [Co(TPP)] catalyst show that the rate determining energy barrier of this radical-type transformation is not influenced by the coordination of DMF. As such, the increased TONs obtained experimentally stem from the stabilizing effect of DMF and are not due to an intrinsic higher activity caused by axial ligand binding to the cobalt center ([Co(TPP)(L)]) . Remarkably, encapsulation of Co−G led to a three times more active catalyst than [Co(TPP)] (TOF_ini) and a substantially increased TON compared to both [Co(TPP)] and free Co−G . The increased local concentration of the substrates in the hydrophobic cage compared to the bulk explains the observed higher catalytic activities.     

酞菁铁中N4-Fe2+的氧化还原化学和氧还原性能

准确理解金属大环配合物(如N4-Fe²⁺)体系的氧化还原化学性能,对氧还原反应(ORR)电催化剂的基础研究和合理设计具有重要意义.本文采用微波法将三种不同酞菁铁类金属大环配合物吸附在碳纳米管上,分别记为(NH2)4FePc@CNTs,(t-Bu)4FePc@CNTs和FePc@CNTs,考察了取代基对Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺氧化还原电位的影响,以及碱性介质中的氧还原反应催化活性.结果表明,FePc@CNTs,(t-Bu)4FePc@CNTs和(NH2)4FePc@CNTs的ORR起始电位分别为0.98,0.96和0.96 V,而半波电位(E1/2)由高到低的顺序为FePc@CNTs(E1/2=0.91 V),(t-Bu)4FePc@CNTs(E1/2=0.87 V),(NH2)4FePc@CNTs(E1/2=0.83 V).与20%Pt/C(E1/2=0.85 V)相比,FePc@CNTsFePc@CNTs具有优异的ORR性能.在活性、稳定性和耐甲醇性方面,FePc@CNTs复合材料比其他复合材料表现出更高的ORR性能.研究发现,FePc上的供电子基团可以显著改变N4-Fe²⁺活性位点的电子云密度,增加dz 2轨道(HOMO)的能量,并观察到Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺氧化还原电位显著向阴极方向移动.结果表明,取代基的高电子贡献能力降低了HOMO和LUMO(O2的杂轨道*-轨道)之间的电子耦合,从而降低了氧还原催化活性.因此,FePc框架外围的供电子基团对ORR不利.本文阐明了取代基电子效应-金属大环配合物氧化还原电位与ORR催化性能之间的关系,为ORR催化剂活性中心的构建和调控提供了借鉴.     

New Ideas for Understanding the Structure and Magnetism in AgF2: Prediction of Ferroelasticity

In the search for new high-temperature superconductors, it has been proposed that there are strong similarities between the fluoroargentate AgF₂ and the cuprate La₂CuO₄. We explored the origin of the possible layered structure of AgF₂ by studying its parent high-symmetry phase and comparing these results with those of a seemingly analogous cuprate, CuF₂. Our findings first stress the large differences between CuF₂ and AgF₂. Indeed, the parent structure of AgF₂ is found to be cubic, naturally devoid of any layering, even though Ag²⁺ ions occupy trigonal sites that, nevertheless, allow the existence of a Jahn-Teller effect. The observed Pbca orthorhombic phase is found when the system is cooperatively distorted by a local E⊗e trigonal Jahn-Teller effect around the silver sites that creates both geometrical and magnetic layering. While the distortion implies that two Ag²⁺−F⁻ bonds increase their distance by 15 % and become softer, our simulations indicate that covalent bonding and interlayer electron hopping is strong, unlike the situation in cuprate superconductors, and that, in fact, exfoliation of individual planes might be a harder task than previously suggested. As a salient feature, these results prove that the actual magnetic structure in AgF₂ is a direct consequence of vibronic contributions involved in the Jahn-Teller effect. Finally, our findings show that, due to the multiple minima intrinsic to the Jahn-Teller energy surface, the system is ferroelastic, a property that is strongly coupled to magnetism in this argentate.     

离子对UIO-66-2OH光催化性能的影响

实际废水中存在的离子会对有机污染物的光催化降解产生影响。以ZrCl₄和2,5-二羟基对苯二甲酸为原料,通过水热合成法成功制备了金属有机骨架材料UIO-66-2OH。通过红外（IR）、X射线粉末衍射（XRD）、X射线光电子能谱（XPS）和扫描电子显微镜（SEM）对UIO-66-2OH的结构进行表征。利用水中常见的金属阳离子和无机阴离子,探索UIO-66-2OH的光催化性能。研究发现,金属阳离子Fe³⁺和无机阴离子HCO₃^-、CO₃^2-可以加快光催化降解的速度。然而,金属离子Na⁺、K⁺、Ca²⁺、Mg²⁺、Cu²⁺和无机阴离子Cl^-、SO₄^2-、PO₄^3-会抑制光催化性能,且离子价态越高,抑制效果越明显。     

Solvent induced enhancement of nonlinear optical response of graphdiyne

Flat and crystalline materials with exceptional nonlinear optical(NLO) properties are highly desirable for their potential applications in integrated NLO photonic devices.Graphdiyne(GD),a new twodimensional(2 D) carbon allotrope,has recently evoked burgeoning research attention by virtue of its tunable bandgap along with a high carrier mobility and extended π-conjugation compared with most conventional optical materials.Here,we experimentally probe the third-order nonlinear optical response of GD dispersed in several common solvents(alcohols) using a femtosecond Z-scan technique.The measured nonlinear optical refractive index is in the order of ~10^-8 cm²/W,which is approximately one order of magnitude higher than that of most 2 D materials.In particular,we find that different NLO responses can be observed from GD when dispersed in different solvents,with the strongest NLO response when dispersed in 1-propanol.It is proposed that some intrinsic properties of the solvents,such as the polarity and viscosity,could influence the NLO response of GD materials.Our experimental results confirm the assumptions on the NLO behavior in GD and demonstrate its great potential for future generations of Kerr-effect-based NLO materials and devices.     

Recent advances in the development of colorimetric analysis and testing based on aggregation-induced nanozymes

Colorimetric sensing strategies as a powerful point-of-care testing(POCT) tool have attracted significant interest in various chem/biosensing applications.Taking the excellent bare-eye-detectable signaling feature,nanozymes-based colorimetric sensors enable more potential applications and have been a new forefront in the colorimetric POCT analysis toward different target analytes.However,the low catalytic activity of nanozymes in most cases limits their practical application.Recent efforts demonstrate that the aggregation-induced nanozymes provide a general means to modulate nanozymes activity and enhance colorimetric sensing performances of some nanozymes-based colorimetric sensors.But there are few reports are explored to discuss and review such aggregation-induced nanozymes and their colorimetric sensing applications.To highlight the advances and progress in aggregation-induced nanozymes based colorimetric assays,we herein summary the fundamentals,classify and applications of this newlydeveloping field,focusing on the aggregation-induced activity enhancement of nanozymes(AIAEnanozymes) with a significant "signal-on" feature and aggregation-induced activity inhibition of nanozymes(AIAI-nanozymes) with a dramatical "signal-of" characteristics.Finally,we also propose the current challenges and the future prospects on both AIAE-nanozymes and AIAI-nanozymes.     

Cu/Cu_2O nanoparticles co-regulated carbon catalyst for alkaline Al-air batteries

Developing high-efficiency,inexpensive,and steady non-precious metal oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) catalysts to displace Pt-based catalysts is significant for commercial applications of Al-air battery.Here,we have prepared the Cu/Cu_2 O-NC catalyst with excellent ORR performance and high stability,due to the synergistic effect of Cu and Cu_2 O nanoparticles.The half-wave potential(0.8 V) and the limiting-current density(5.20 mA/cm~2) of the Cu/Cu_2 O-NC are very close to those of the 20% Pt/C catalyst(0.82 V,5.10 mA/cm~2).Besides,it exhibits excellent performance with a maximal power density of 250 mW/cm~2 and a stable continuous discharge for more than 90 h in the Al-air battery test The promoting effects of Cu_2 O towards Cu-based ORR catalysts are illustrated as follows:(ⅰ) Cu_2 O is the major ORR active site by the redox of Cu(Ⅱ)/Cu(Ⅰ),which provides excellent ORR activities;(ⅱ) Cu can stabilize the location of Cu_2 O by assisting the electron transfer to Cu(Ⅱ)/Cu(Ⅰ) redox,which is conducive to the high stability of the catalyst.This work provides a useful strategy for enhancing the ORR performance of Cu-based catalysts.     

Simultaneous studies of pressure effect on charge transport and photophysical properties in organic semiconductors: A theoretical investigation

High-mobility and strong luminescent materials are essential as an important component of organic photodiodes, having received extensive attention in the field of organic optoelectronics. Beyond the conventional chemical synthesis of new molecules, pressure technology, as a flexible and efficient method, can tune the electronic and optical properties reversibly. However, the mechanism in organic materials has not been systematically revealed. Here, we theoretically predicted the pressure-depended luminescence and charge transport properties of high-performance organic optoelectronic semiconductors, 2,6-diphenylanthracene (DPA), by first-principle and multi-scale theoretical calculation methods. The dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D) and hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) method were used to get the electronic structures and vibration properties under pressure. Furthermore, the charge transport and luminescence properties were calculated with the quantum tunneling method and thermal vibration correlation function. We found that the pressure could significantly improve the charge transport performance of the DPA single crystal. When the applied pressure increased to 1.86 GPa, the hole mobility could be doubled. At the same time, due to the weak exciton coupling effect and the rigid flat structure, there is neither fluorescence quenching nor obvious emission enhancement phenomenon. The DPA single crystal possesses a slightly higher fluorescence quantum yield ～ 0.47 under pressure. Our work systematically explored the pressure-dependence photoelectric properties and explained the inside mechanism. Also, we proposed that the external pressure would be an effective way to improve the photoelectric performance of organic semiconductors.     

各向同性光纤中拉曼增益对光脉冲自陡峭的影响

运用数学解析法导出了关于拉曼增益与自陡峭综合效应的光脉冲传输方程,在此基础上引入洛伦兹模型将拉曼增益整合到非线性系数中来研究光脉冲中拉曼增益对自陡峭效应的作用,重点分析了高斯脉冲在各向同性光纤中传播时,拉曼增益对其自陡峭效应具体影响方式,结果表明拉曼增益会减弱自陡峭中后沿偏移程度,减小脉冲展宽,但不会影响其峰值大小.     

石墨烯能带中的重叠矩阵效应:Tight-Binding方法在模拟中的研究

采用紧束缚方法计算了石墨烯的价带(π)和导带(π*),考虑了非正交基矢下重叠矩阵效应,重叠积分参量s越小,导带越靠近费米面,而价带越远离费米面.在重叠积分参量s≤0.1时,基本保持了原子在实际空间中重叠所引起的能带的改变,太大(s=0.4)则会导致物理上失效.计算了石墨烯的能态密度,在费米面ε=0处(对应Dirac点)的能态密度为零,并且在Dirac点附近呈线性变化.