Alkaline oxygen evolution: exploring synergy between fcc and hcp cobalt nanoparticles entrapped in N-doped graphene

Herein, we report a Mott-Schottky catalyst by entrapping cobalt nanoparticles inside the N-doped graphene shell (Co@NC). The Co@NC delivered excellent oxygen evolution activity with an overpotential of merely 248 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm^–2 with promising long-term stability. The importance of Co encapsulated in NC has further been demonstrated by synthesizing Co nanoparticles without NC shell. The synergy between the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) and face-centered cubic (fcc) Co plays a major role to improve the OER activity, whereas the NC shell optimizes the electronic structure, improves the electron conductivity, and offers a large number of active sites in Co@NC. The density functional theory calculations have revealed that the hcp Co has a dominant role in the surface reaction of electrocatalytic oxygen evolution, whereas the fcc phase induces the built-in electric field at the interfaces with N-doped graphene to accelerate the H⁺ ion transport.     

Understanding the solubility and crystallization of molybdenum in high-sodium borosilicate glasses: effect of lanthanum oxide

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - The simplified 8-oxide system (SiO2-B2O3-Na2O-Al2O3-CaO-TiO2-MoO3-La2O3) has been prepared under two types of cooling methods, and analyzed with...     

Optimal design of gears contact interface modification for an objective as minimum impact resistance of initial meshing-in time domain

Meccanica - In gear pair actual alternating meshing process, the comprehensive errors of the transmission system and the thermal elastic deformation of the teeth body cause the gears in the meshing...     

Hitherto-Unexplored Photodynamic Therapy of Ag2S and Enhanced Regulation Based on Polydopamine In Vitro and Vivo

Given their superior penetration depths, photosensitizers with longer absorption wavelengths present broader application prospects in photodynamic therapy (PDT). Herein, Ag₂S quantum dots were discovered, for the first time, to be capable of killing tumor cells through the photodynamic route by near-infrared light irradiation, which means relatively less excitation of the probe compared with traditional photosensitizers absorbing short wavelengths. On modification with polydopamine (PDA), PDA-Ag₂S was obtained, which showed outstanding capacity for inducing reactive oxygen species (increased by 1.69 times). With the addition of PDA, Ag₂S had more opportunities to react with surrounding O₂, which was demonstrated by typical triplet electron spin resonance (ESR) analysis. Furthermore, the PDT effects of Ag₂S and PDA-Ag₂S achieved at longer wavelengths were almost identical to the effects produced at 660 nm, which was proved by studies in vitro. PDA-Ag₂S showed distinctly better therapeutic effects than Ag₂S in experiments in vivo, which further validated the enhanced regulatory effect of PDA. Altogether, a new photosensitizer with longer absorption wavelength was developed by using the hitherto-unexplored photodynamic function of Ag₂S quantum dots, which extended and enhanced the regulatory effect originating from PDA.     

Subdominant H60 antigen-specific CD8 T-cell response precedes dominant H4 antigen-specific response during the initial phase of allogenic skin graft rejection

In allogeneic transplantation, including the B6 anti-BALB.B settings, H60 and H4 are two representative dominant minor histocompatibility antigens that induce strong CD8 T-cell responses. With different distribution patterns, H60 expression is restricted to hematopoietic cells, whereas H4 is ubiquitously expressed. H60-specific CD8 T-cell response has been known to be dominant in most cases of B6 anti-BALB.B allo-responses, except in the case of skin transplantation. To understand the mechanism underlying the subdominance of H60 during allogeneic skin transplantation, we investigated the dynamics of the H60-specific CD8 T cells in B6 mice transplanted with allogeneic BALB.B tail skin. Unexpectedly, longitudinal bioluminescence imaging and flow cytometric analyses revealed that H60-specific CD8 T cells were not always subdominant to H4-specific cells but instead showed a brief dominance before the H4 response became predominant. H60-specific CD8 T cells could expand in the draining lymph node and migrate to the BALB.B allografts, indicating their active participation in the anti-BALB.B allo-response. Enhancing the frequencies of H60-reactive CD8 T cells prior to skin transplantation reversed the immune hierarchy between H60 and H4. Additionally, H60 became predominant when antigen presentation was limited to the direct pathway. However, when antigen presentation was restricted to the indirect pathway, the expansion of H60-specific CD8 T cells was limited, whereas H4-specific CD8 T cells expanded significantly, suggesting that the temporary immunodominance and eventual subdominance of H60 could be due to their reliance on the direct antigen presentation pathway. These results enhance our understanding of the immunodominance phenomenon following allogeneic tissue transplantation.     

Boron(iii) β-diketonate-based small molecules for functional non-fullerene polymer solar cells and organic resistive memory devices

A class of acceptor–donor–acceptor chromophoric small-molecule non-fullerene acceptors, 1–4, with difluoroboron(iii) β-diketonate (BF₂bdk) as the electron-accepting moiety has been developed. Through the variation of the central donor unit and the modification on the peripheral substituents of the terminal BF₂bdk acceptor unit, their photophysical and electrochemical properties have been systematically studied. Taking advantage of their low-lying lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels (from −3.65 to −3.72 eV) and relatively high electron mobility (7.49 × 10⁻⁴ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹), these BF₂bdk-based compounds have been employed as non-fullerene acceptors in organic solar cells with maximum power conversion efficiencies of up to 4.31%. Moreover, bistable resistive memory characteristics with charge-trapping mechanisms have been demonstrated in these BF₂bdk-based compounds. This work not only demonstrates for the first time the use of a boron(iii) β-diketonate unit in constructing non-fullerene acceptors, but also provides more insights into designing organic materials with multi-functional properties.

Boron(iii) β-diketonates have been demonstrated to serve as multi-functional materials in NFA-based OPVs and organic resistive memories.     

A New Approach to Develop a Standardized Method for Simultaneous Analysis of Astragaloside IV and Formononetin in Radix Astragali by High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - A new high-performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method has been developed for the simultaneous estimation of...     

Chain transfer to solvent in BN 2-vinylnaphthalene radical polymerization

The synthesis of vinyl alcohol copolymers is limited due to the poor radical reactivity of vinyl acetate (VAc), the traditional precursor to polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Main group monomers such as BN 2-vinylnaphthalene (BN2VN) have attracted attention as alternatives to VAc to form side chain hydroxyls via oxidation, but outstanding questions of molecular weight control remain. Herein we report systematic investigation of solvent, temperature, and initiator concentration as factors influencing BN2VN degree of polymerization. We find increased chain transfer to toluene, hypothesized to arise from differences in radical stabilization and reactivity by aromatic and BN aromatic rings. As a result of these combined efforts, high molecular weight (M_w ~ 10⁵ g mol⁻¹) BN2VN homopolymers and BN2VN-styrene copolymers were obtained.