Effect of temperature on the interactions between cellulose and lignin via molecular dynamics simulations

Cellulose - Heating is essential in various biomass pre-treatments and thermal conversion processes. It is of practical significance to study the characteristics of cellulose-lignin and...     

Observers Design for a Class of Nonlinear Stochastic Discrete-Time Systems

International Journal of Theoretical Physics - This paper mainly studied the observer design of Lipschitz stochastic discrete system. For the first time, generalized Lipschitz conditions are...     

Fabricating Dual-Atom Iron Catalysts for Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction: A Heteroatom Modulator Approach

Understanding the thermal aggregation behavior of metal atoms is important for the synthesis of supported metal clusters. Here, derived from a metal–organic framework encapsulating a trinuclear Fe^III₂Fe^II complex (denoted as Fe₃) within the channels, a well-defined nitrogen-doped carbon layer is fabricated as an ideal support for stabilizing the generated iron nanoclusters. Atomic replacement of Fe^II by other metal(II) ions (e.g., Zn^II/Co^II) via synthesizing isostructural trinuclear-complex precursors (Fe₂Zn/Fe₂Co), namely the “heteroatom modulator approach”, is inhibiting the aggregation of Fe atoms toward nanoclusters with formation of a stable iron dimer in an optimal metal–nitrogen moiety, clearly identified by direct transmission electron microscopy and X-ray absorption fine structure analysis. The supported iron dimer, serving as cooperative metal–metal site, acts as efficient oxygen evolution catalyst. Our findings offer an atomic insight to guide the future design of ultrasmall metal clusters bearing outstanding catalytic capabilities.     

Determination of sulfa antibiotic residues in river and particulate matter by field-amplified sample injection-capillary zone electrophoresis

In the present research, field-amplified sample injection–CZE (FASI–CZE) coupled with a diode array detector was established to determine trace level sulfa antibiotic. Sulfathiazole, sulfadiazine, sulfamethazine, sulfadimethoxine, sulfamethoxazole, and sulfisoxazole were selected as analytes for the experiments. The background electrolyte solution consisted of 70.0 mmol/L borax and 60.0 mmol/L boric acid (including 10% methanol, pH 9.1). The plug was 2.5 mmol/L borax, which was injected into the capillary at a pressure of 0.5 psi for 5 s. Then the sample was injected into the capillary at an injection voltage of –10 kV for 20 s. The electrophoretic separation was carried out under a voltage of +19 kV. The capillary temperature was maintained at 20˚C throughout the analysis, and six sulfonamides were completely separated within 35 min. Compared with pressure injection-CZE, the sensitivity of FASI-CZE was increased by 6.25–10.0 times, and the LODs were reduced from 0.2–0.5 to 0.02–0.05 μg/mL. The method was applied to the determination of sulfonamides in river water and particulate matter samples. The recoveries were 78.59–106.59%. The intraday and interday precisions were 2.89–7.35% and 2.77–7.09%, respectively. This provides a simpler and faster method for the analysis of sulfa antibiotic residues in environmental samples.     

Chemical versus Electrochemical Synthesis of Carbon Nano‐onion/Polypyrrole Composites for Supercapacitor Electrodes

The development of high‐surface‐area carbon electrodes with a defined pore size distribution and the incorporation of pseudo‐active materials to optimize the overall capacitance and conductivity without destroying the stability are at present important research areas. Composite electrodes of carbon nano‐onions (CNOs) and polypyrrole (Ppy) were fabricated to improve the specific capacitance of a supercapacitor. The carbon nanostructures were uniformly coated with Ppy by chemical polymerization or by electrochemical potentiostatic deposition to form homogenous composites or bilayers. The materials were characterized by transmission‐ and scanning electron microscopy, differential thermogravimetric analyses, FTIR spectroscopy, piezoelectric microgravimetry, and cyclic voltammetry. The composites show higher mechanical and electrochemical stabilities, with high specific capacitances of up to about 800 F g^?1 for the CNOs/SDS/Ppy composites (chemical synthesis) and about 1300 F g^?1 for the CNOs/Ppy bilayer (electrochemical deposition).     

Vinylic MIDA Boronates: New Building Blocks for the Synthesis of Aza‐Heterocycles

A two‐step synthesis of structurally diverse pyrrole‐containing bicyclic systems is reported. ortho‐Nitro‐haloarenes coupled with vinylic N‐methyliminodiacetic acid (MIDA) boronates generate ortho‐vinyl‐nitroarenes, which undergo a “metal‐free” nitrene insertion, resulting in a new pyrrole ring. This novel synthetic approach has a wide substrate tolerance and it is applicable in the preparation of more complex “drug‐like” molecules. Interestingly, an ortho‐nitro‐allylarene derivative furnished a cyclic β‐aminophosphonate motif.     

Pd0‐Catalyzed Intramolecular α‐Arylation of Sulfones: Domino Reactions in the Synthesis of Functionalized Tetrahydroisoquinolines

A new strategy for the synthesis of tetrahydroisoquinolines based on the Pd⁰‐catalyzed intramolecular α‐arylation of sulfones is reported. The combination of this Pd‐catalyzed reaction with intermolecular Michael and aza‐Michael reactions allows the development of two‐ and three‐step domino processes to synthesize diversely functionalized scaffolds from readily available starting materials.