Conformational and electronic study of dopamine interacting with the D2 dopamine receptor

We report an exhaustive conformational and electronic study on dopamine (DA) interacting with the D₂ dopamine receptor (D₂DR). For the first time, the complete surface of the conformational potential energy of the complex DA/D₂DR is reported. Such a surface was obtained through the use of QM/MM calculations. A detailed study of the molecular interactions that stabilize and destabilize the different molecular complexes was carried out using two techniques: Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules computations and nuclear magnetic shielding constants calculations. A comparative study of the behavior of DA in the gas phase, aqueous solution, and in the active site of D₂DR has allowed us to evaluate the degree of deformation suffered by the ligand and, therefore, analyze how rustic are the lock-key model and the induced fit theory in this case. Our results allow us to propose one of the conformations obtained as the “biologically relevant” conformation of DA when it is interacting with the D₂DR.     

SO_4~(2-)功能化处理对Fe_2O_3催化剂上氨选择性催化还原NO_x性能的促进机理研究

采用沉淀法制备了Fe(OH)_3和Fe_2O_3。通过硫酸化处理得到SO_4~(2-)/Fe(OH)_3和SO_4~(2-)/Fe_2O_3两种催化剂,并将其应用于氨选择性催化还原NO_x(NH_3-SCR)反应,研究了SO_4~(2-)功能化处理对Fe_2O_3催化剂上NH_3-SCR脱硝性能的促进机理。结果表明,与纯的Fe_2O_3相比,硫酸化处理得到的催化剂上SCR活性得到显著提升;其中,SO_4~(2-)/Fe(OH)_3表现出更加优异的催化性能,在250-450℃时NO_x转化率高于80%,且具有优异的稳定性和抗H_2O+SO_2性能。XRD、Raman、TG、FT-IR、H_2-TPR、NH_3-TPD和in situ DRIFTS等表征结果显示,硫酸功能化处理能抑制Fe_2O_3的晶粒生长,同时SO_4~(2-)与Fe~(3+)结合形成硫酸盐复合物,提高了催化剂表面酸性位点的数量和酸强度,抑制了Fe_2O_3上的氨氧化反应,从而提高了其脱硝催化性能。     

Metal ions Directed Self-assembly based on Mixed Ligands: From 2D hcb Net to 3D cds Framework

Two coordination polymers (CPs), namely, [Zn(BPDC)(3-bpdb)_0.5(H₂O)₂]_n ( 1 ), and [Ni(BPDC)(3-bpdb)(H₂O)₂]_n ( 2 ) (where H₂BPDC = 4,4'-biphenyldicarboxylic acid, 3-bpdb = 1,4-bis(3-pyridyl)-2,3-diaza-1,3-butadiene) have been solvothermally synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, IR, elemental analyses, PXRD, and SEM. CP 1 possesses a 2D 3-connected hcb net, and weak hydrogen bonding and π ··· π stacking contacts further link the 2D networks to form 3D supramolecular structure. The structure of 2 presents a 4-connected threefold interpenetrated cds framework. Through structural analysis, it is found that the coordination geometry of metal ions significantly affects the binding behaviors of the ligands and the resultant extended networks of the CPs. Besides, the Hirshfeld surface analyses detailed the surface characteristics of the two CPs. In addition, the thermal stabilities and photoluminescent properties were also investigated.     

烯丙基化碳纳米管改善丙烯酸酯压敏胶的性能

本文利用γ-甲基丙烯酰氧基丙基三甲氧基硅烷(KH570)对多壁碳纳米管(MWNTs)进行修饰使其表面接枝上烯丙基官能团,与丙烯酸酯类单体进行原位聚合,制备了一种耐高温丙烯酸酯压敏胶(PSA)。 通过傅里叶变换红外光谱仪(FT-IR)、热重分析仪(TGA)和扫描电子显微镜(SEM)表征了MWNTs和丙烯酸酯PSA的结构与性能,探讨了改性MWNTs的质量分数对PSA耐热性能和粘接性能的影响。 结果表明,与未改性的丙烯酸酯PSA相比,当改性MWNTs的质量分数为1.5%时,改性丙烯酸酯PSA的耐热性能和粘接性能最佳,热分解温度从360 ℃提高到了382 ℃,耐热温度从80 ℃提高到了155 ℃,初粘力、持粘力和180°剥离强度分别从2 h和13.66 N/(25 mm)(12号小球)提高到了27 h和17.34 N/(25 mm)(17号小球)。     

Amphibious sensor of temperature and refractive index based on D-shaped photonic crystal fibre filled with liquid crystal

ABSTRACT

A D-shaped photonic crystal fibre filled with liquid crystal was demonstrated as an amphibious sensor for detection of both temperature and refractive index, when combined with plasma materials. Specifically, the optical component is implanted into a complete optical system ensuring modulation of the external electric field. When the refractive index of the external solution changes from 1.0 to 1.6, the y-polarised mode has a loss spectrum with a wavelength sensitivity of up to 2275 nm/RIU, and the corresponding amplitude sensitivity is ?88.2RIU^?1. When the perceived temperature changes from 15°C to 50°C, the temperature of the sensor is correspondingly expressed as the maximum wavelength sensitivity of 9.09 nm/°C and the amplitude sensitivity of ?0.311°C^?1. In addition, the actual micro-operation processes have been studied in detail, such as polishing depth, coating thickness and coating method. This provides practical ideas for real-time sensing analysis that requires harsh environments.     

Bent-core liquid crystal-functionalised flexible polymer substrates for liquid crystal alignment

ABSTRACT

A transparent flexible polymer film is chemically functionalised with a bent-core liquid crystal (BCLC) compound for effective alignment of the bulk BCLC sample at the substrate–LC interface. The surface attachment was achieved via a simple procedure which involved pre-treatment of the polymer film (commercial name: over head projector film) using piranha solution followed by chemically attaching the BCLC compound through silane condensation reaction. Surface characterisation of the unmodified and BC-modified flexible films was carried out through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, contact angle (CA) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. The BC-modified flexible substrates are analysed for their efficiency to orient the bulk LC sample. Remarkably, the chemically modified polymer substrates are highly efficient in vertically aligning both the BC and rod-like LC samples at the substrate–LC interface, in comparison to their unmodified counterparts. The described method is simple, reproducible, surface modified substrates are highly stable and more importantly reusable. The demonstrated method for the alignment of BCLCs advances a step forward towards the realisation of applications proposed for these fascinating compounds.     

Oxygen vacancy O-terminated surface: The most exposed surface of hexagonal WO3 (001) surface

It is known that exposed surface determines material’s performance. WO₃ is widely used in gas sensing and its working surface is proposed to control its sensitivity. However, the working surface, or most exposed surface with detailed surface structure remain unclear. In this paper, DFT calculation confirmed that oxygen vacancy O-terminated surface is the most exposed hexagonal WO₃ (001) surface, judging from competitive adsorption of CO and O₂, working surface determination for CO sensing and comparison of oxygen vacancy formation energies on different h-WO₃ (001) surfaces. It is found that DFT can be a useful alternate for exposed surface determination. Our results provide new perspectives and performance explanations for material research.     

Novel advances in metal-based solar absorber for photothermal vapor generation

Access to safe drinking water has become an extremely urgent research topic worldwide. In recent years, the technology of solar vapor generation has been extensively explored as a potential and effective strategy of transforming elements content in seawater. In this review, the basic concepts and theories of metal-based photothermal vapor generation device (PVGD) with excellent optical and thermal regulatory are introduced. In the view of optical regulation, how to achieve high-efficiency localized evaporation in different evaporation system (i.e., volumetric solar heating and interface solar heating) is discussed; from the aspect of thermal regulation, the importance of selective absorption surface for interfacial PVGD is analyzed. Based on the above discussion and analysis, we summarize the challenges of metal-based desalination device.     

Constructing spin-adiabatic states for the modeling of spin-crossing reactions. I. A shared-orbital implementation

In the modeling of spin-crossing reactions, it has become popular to directly explore the spin-adiabatic surfaces. Specifically, through constructing spin-adiabatic states from a two-state Hamiltonian (with spin-orbit coupling matrix elements) at each geometry, one can readily employ advanced geometry optimization algorithms to acquire a “transition state” structure, where the spin crossing occurs. In this work, we report the implementation of a fully-variational spin-adiabatic approach based on Kohn-Sham density functional theory spin states (sharing the same set of molecular orbitals) and the Breit-Pauli one-electron spin-orbit operator. For three model spin-crossing reactions (predissociation of N₂O, singlet-triplet conversion in CH₂, and CO addition to Fe(CO)₄), the spin-crossing points were obtained. Our results also indicated the Breit-Pauli one-electron spin-orbit coupling can vary significantly along the reaction pathway on the spin-adiabatic energy surface. On the other hand, due to the restriction that low-spin and high-spin states share the same set of molecular orbitals, the acquired spin-adiabatic energy surface shows a cusp (ie, a first-order discontinuity) at the crossing point, which prevents the use of standard geometry optimization algorithms to pinpoint the crossing point. An extension with this restriction removed is being developed to achieve the smoothness of spin-adiabatic surfaces.     

Secure and Sustainable Sourcing of Plant Tissues for the Exhaustive Exploration of Their Chemodiversity

The main challenge of plant chemical diversity exploration is how to develop tools to study exhaustively plant tissues. Their sustainable sourcing is a limitation as bioguided strategies and dereplication need quite large amounts of plant material. We examine if alternative solutions could overcome these difficulties by obtaining a secure, sustainable, and scalable source of tissues able to biosynthesize an array of metabolites. As this approach would be as independent of the botanical origin as possible, we chose eight plant species from different families. We applied a four steps culture establishment procedure, monitoring targeted compounds through mass spectrometry-based analytical methods. We also characterized the capacities of leaf explants in culture to produce diverse secondary metabolites. In vitro cultures were successfully established for six species with leaf explants still producing a diversity of compounds after the culture establishment procedure. Furthermore, explants from leaves of axenic plantlets were also analyzed. The detection of marker compounds was confirmed after six days in culture for all tested species. Our results show that the first stage of this approach aiming at easing exploration of plant chemodiversity was completed, and leaf tissues could offer an interesting alternative providing a constant source of natural compounds.