Dark Energy with Phantom Crossing and the H0 Tension

We investigate the possibility of phantom crossing in the dark energy sector and the solution for the Hubble tension between early and late universe observations. We use robust combinations of different cosmological observations, namely the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), local measurement of Hubble constant (H0), Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) and SnIa for this purpose. For a combination of CMB+BAO data that is related to early universe physics, phantom crossing in the dark energy sector was confirmed at a 95% confidence level and we obtained the constraint H0=71.0−3.8+2.9 km/s/Mpc at a 68% confidence level, which is in perfect agreement with the local measurement by Riess et al. We show that constraints from different combinations of data are consistent with each other and all of them are consistent with phantom crossing in the dark energy sector. For the combination of all data considered, we obtained the constraint H0=70.25±0.78 km/s/Mpc at a 68% confidence level and the phantom crossing happening at the scale factor am=0.851−0.031+0.048 at a 68% confidence level.     

Visible light-driven acridone catalysis for atom transfer radical polymerization

Acridone as a new kind of visible light photocatalyst has been developed to catalyze metal free atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The photocatalyst possess low excited state potential as can undergo an oxidative quenching pathway to initiate ATRP of vinyl monomers. Kinetic study and light on/off reaction demonstrate the “living”/controlled nature of the polymerization by light. Block copolymers can be achieved by using PMMA as macroinitiator to reinitiate polymerization of other vinyl monomers, which shows highly preserved Br chain-end functionality in the synthesized polymers. Moreover, the polymerization can be conducted under air atmosphere as most photocatalysts need anaerobic condition, which may give inspiration of further application of this kind of photocatalyst.     

Nanocomposite hydrogel consisting of Na‐montmorillonite with enhanced mechanical properties

A new kind of nanocomposite (NC) hydrogel with Na‐montmorillonite (MMT) is presented in this article. The NC hydrogels were synthesized by free radical copolymerization of acrylamide and (3‐acrylamidopropyl) trimethylammonium chloride (ATC) in the presence of MMT and N,N′‐methylene‐bis‐acrylamide used as chemical cross‐linker. Due to the cation‐exchange reaction between MMT and ATC (cationic monomer) during the synthesis of NC hydrogels, MMT platelets were considered chemical “plane” cross‐linkers, different from “point” cross‐linkers. With increasing amount of MMT, the crosslinking degree enhanced, causing a decrease of the swelling degree at equilibrium. Investigations of mechanical properties indicated that NC hydrogels exhibited enhanced strength and toughness, which resulted from chemical interaction between exfoliated MMT platelets and polymer chains in hydrogels. Dynamic shear measurements showed that both storage modulus and loss modulus increased with increasing MMT content. The idea described here provided a new route to prepare hydrogels with high mechanical properties by using alternative natural Na‐MMT. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 1020–1026     

Functional zinc(II) phthalocyanines bearing Schiff base complexes as oxidation catalysts for bleaching systems

Oxidation catalysis is used to increase the performance of hydrogen peroxide in laundry bleach applications. Bleach catalysts provide cost‐effective, energy‐saving and environmentally friendly bleach systems yielding perfect stain removal at lower temperatures. This comparative study is based on the synthesis of bis[bis(salicylhydrazonephenoxy)manganese(III)] phthalocyaninatozinc(II) ( 2 ), bis[bis(salicylhydrazonephenoxy)cobalt(III)] phthalocyaninatozinc(II) ( 3 ) and bis[bis(salicylhydrazonephenoxy)iron(III)] phthalocyaninatozinc(II) ( 4 ) as tri‐nuclear complexes consisting of two Schiff base complexes substituting a zinc phthalocyanine. Complexion on the periphery to obtain complexes 2 , 3 , 4 was performed through the reaction of a Schiff base‐substituted phthalocyanine using MnCl₂?4H₂O, CoCl₂?6H₂O or FeCl₃?6H₂O salts in basic condition in dimethylformamide. Fourier transform infrared, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, UV–visible, inductively coupled plasma optical emission and mass spectra were applied to characterize the prepared compounds. The bleach performances of the three phthalocyanine compounds 2 , 3 , 4 were examined by the degradation of morin as hydrophilic dye. The degradation progress in the presence of catalysts 2 , 3 , 4 /H₂O₂ combination in aqueous solution was investigated using an online spectrophotometric method. It was found that the catalysts 2 , 3 , 4 exhibited better bleaching performance at 25 °C than tetraactylethylethylenediamine as bleach activator used in powder detergent formulations for stain removal. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conversion of Methanol to Aromatic-Rich Gasoline over High-Efficiency Bifunctional Catalysts: Green Synthesis of GaZSM-5 Zeolites via Dry-Gel Conversion Strategy

Russian Journal of Applied Chemistry - Nanoscale ZSM-5 (AlZ5-D) and Ga-substituted ZSM-5 zeolites ((Al,Ga)Z5-D and GaZ5-D) were synthesized by a green dry-gel conversion strategy. For comparison,...     

Single Crystal to Single Crystal (SC‐to‐SC) Transformation from a Nonporous to Porous Metal–Organic Framework and Its Application Potential in Gas Adsorption and Suzuki Coupling Reaction through Postmodification

A new amino‐functionalized strontium–carboxylate‐based metal–organic framework (MOF) has been synthesized that undergoes single crystal to single crystal (SC‐to‐SC) transformation upon desolvation. Both structures have been characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray analysis. The desolvated structure shows an interesting 3D porous structure with pendent ?NH₂ groups inside the pore wall, whereas the solvated compound possesses a nonporous structure with DMF molecules on the metal centers. The amino group was postmodified through Schiff base condensation by pyridine‐2‐carboxaldehyde and palladium was anchored on that site. The modified framework has been utilized for the Suzuki cross‐coupling reaction. The compound shows high activity towards the C?C cross‐coupling reaction with good yields and turnover frequencies. Gas adsorption studies showed that the desolvated compound had permanent porosity and was microporous in nature with a BET surface area of 2052 m² g^?1. The material also possesses good CO₂ (8 wt %) and H₂ (1.87 wt %) adsorption capabilities.     

Hexagonal boron nitride quantum dots: Properties,preparation and applications

As a new type of quantum dots (QDs), hexagonal boron nitride quantum dots (BNQDs) exhibit promising potential in the applications of disease diagnosis, fluorescence imaging, biosensing, metal ion detection, and so on, because of their remarkable chemical stability, excellent biocompatibility, low cytotoxicity, and outstanding photoluminescence properties. However, the large-scale fabrication of homogeneous BNQDs still remains challenging. In this article, the properties and common fabrication methods of BNQDs are summarized based on the recent research progress. Then, the corresponding yields, morphologies, and fabrication mechanisms of these as-obtained BNQDs are discussed in detail. Moreover, the applications of these as-obtained BNQDs in different fields are also discussed. This article is expected to inspire new methods and improvements to achieve large-scale fabrication of homogeneous BNQDs, which will enable their practical applications in future.     

Electrochemiluminescence Enhanced by the Synergetic Effect of Porphyrin and Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes for Uric Acid Detection

The design and exploration of efficient, stable and environmentally compatible organic emitters for an electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor is a promising topic. Herein, a novel environmentally-friendly luminophore, ZnBCBTP@MWCNTs, were fabricated via self-assembly of porphyrin molecules (ZnBCBTP) onto multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The resulting luminophore ZnBCBTP@MWCNTs displayed not only the highly ECL property and but also the good accelerated electron mobility. Then, a label-free ECL biosensor based ZnBCBTP@MWCNTs was constructed for the ultrasensitive detection of uric acid. Excitingly, this proposed ECL biosensor performed a good linear relationship in the range of 0–300 μM with a low detection limit of 1.4 μM, thus offering another reliable and feasible sensing platform for clinical bioanalysis with good selectivity, stability, and repeatability.