Eco-friendly and low-cost amidoxime-functionalized microcrystalline cellulose/mesoporous silica composite for the selective adsorption of U(VI) from aqueous solution

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Eco-friendly and low-cost composite, amidoxime-functionalized microcrystalline cellulose/mesoporous silica (MCC/MS-AO), were synthesized by...     

Benzyl alcohol oxidation and hydrogen generation over MoS2/ZnIn2S4 composite photocatalyst

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Owing to the simultaneous utilization of photogenerated electrons and holes, coupling light-driven hydrogen (H2) evolution reaction (HER) and biomass-derived...     

The Coordination Chemistry of f-Block Elements in Molten Salts

The coordination chemistry of f-block elements (lanthanide and actinide) in molten salts has become a resounding topic in view of its great importance to the research and development (R&D) of molten salt reactors and pyroprocessing. In this Review article, a general overview of the coordination chemistry of f-block elements in molten salts is provided including past achievements and recent advances. Particular emphases are placed on the oxidation state, speciation, and solution structure of f-block metal ions in molten salts, as well as their relationships with the salt composition. Furthermore, this review briefly discusses the spectroscopic and theoretical methods that complement each other in revealing the coordination properties.     

Multifunctional fibrous wound dressings for refractory wound healing

Refractory wounds have always been an important issue to healthcare systems, whose healing process is always delayed by multiple factors, including bacterial infections, chronic inflammation, and excessive exudates, etc. Employing multifunctional wound dressings is recognized as an effective strategy to deal with refractory wounds, which has yielded promising outcomes in recent years. Among these advanced wound dressings, fibrous dressings have gained growing attention due to their unique merits. Such wound dressings have demonstrated great potential in delivering theranostic agents, such as antibacterial agents, anti-inflammatory drugs, growth factors, and diagnostic probes, etc., for the purposes of accelerating wound healing. This paper reviews the development of multifunctional fibrous dressings and their applications in treating refractory wounds. The construction approaches of novel fibrous dressing with capabilities of antibacterial, anti-inflammation, exudate management and diagnosis were also introduced. Furthermore, the existing problems and challenges are also discussed briefly.     

Developing the Low-Temperature Oxidation Mechanism of Cyclopentane: An Experimental and Theoretical Study

At present, the reactivity of cyclic alkanes is estimated by comparison with acyclic hydrocarbons. Due to the difference in the structure of cycloalkanes and acycloalkanes, the thermodynamic data obtained by analogy are not applicable. In this study, a molecular beam sampling vacuum ultraviolet photoionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MB-VUV-PI-TOFMS) was applied to study the low-temperature oxidation of cyclopentane (CPT) at a total pressure range from 1–3 atm and low-temperature range between 500 and 800 K. Low-temperature reaction products including cyclic olefins, cyclic ethers, and highly oxygenated intermediates (e. g., ketohydroperoxide KHP, keto-dihydroperoxide KDHP, olefinic hydroperoxides OHP and ketone structure products) were observed. Further investigation of the oxidation of CPT – electronic structure calculations – were carried out at the UCCSD(T)-F12a/aug-cc-pVDZ//B3LYP/6-31+ G(d,p) level to explore the reactivity of O₂ molecules adding sequentially to cyclopentyl radicals. Experimental and theoretical observations showed that the dominant product channel in the reaction of CPT radicals with O₂ is HO₂ elimination yielding cyclopentene. The pathways of second and third O₂ addition – the dissociation of hydroperoxide – were further confirmed. The results of this study will develop the low-temperature oxidation mechanism of CPT, which can be used for future research on accurately simulating the combustion process of CPT.     

Improved production of levoglucosan and levoglucosenone from acid-impregnated cellulose via fast pyrolysis

Cellulose - In this research, the production of levoglucosan (LG) and levoglucosenone (LGO) was improved from acid-impregnated cellulose via fast pyrolysis. Thermogravimetric and kinetic analysis...     

High-performance nonfused ring electron acceptor with a steric hindrance induced planar molecular backbone

Three nonfused ring electron acceptors (NFREAs) TTC6,TT-C8T and TT-TC8 were purposefully designed and synthesized.The molecular geometry can be adjusted by the steric hindrance of lateral substituents.According to the DFT calculations,from TTC6 to TT-C8T and TT-TC8,planarity of the molecular backbone is gradually improved,accompanying with the enhancing of intramolecular charge transfer effect.As for TT-TC8,the two phenyl substituents are almost perpendicular to the molecular backbone,which endues the acceptor with good solubility and suppresses it to form over-aggregation.Multidirectional regular molecular orientation and closer molecular stacking are formed in TT-TC8 film.As a result,TT-TC8 based devices afford the highest PCE of 13.13%,which is much higher than that of TTC6 (4.41%) and TT-C8T (10.42%) and among the highest PCE values based on NFREAs.     

Graphene Saturable Absorber Mirror for Mode-Locked Orange Pulse Laser

Journal of Russian Laser Research - We demonstrate a passively-mode-locked Pr3+: LuLiF4 laser operated at the 604 nm orange wave-length, using monolayer graphene as a saturable absorber. The...     

Reusable Polyacrylonitrile-Sulfur Extractor of Heavy Metal Ions from Wastewater

Mercury, lead, and cadmium are among the most toxic and carcinogenic heavy metal ions (HMIs), posing serious threats to the sustainability of aquatic ecosystems and public health. There is an urgent need to remove these ions from water by a cheap but green process. Traditional methods have insufficient removal efficiency and reusability. Structurally robust, large surface-area adsorbents functionalized with high-selectivity affinity to HMIs are attractive filter materials. Here, an adsorbent prepared by vulcanization of polyacrylonitrile (PAN), a nitrogen-rich polymer, is reported, giving rise to PAN-S nanoparticles with cyclic π-conjugated backbone and electronic conductivity. PAN-S can be coated on ultra-robust melamine (ML) foam by simple dipping and drying. In agreement with hard/soft acid/base theory, N- and S-containing soft Lewis bases have strong binding to Hg²⁺, Pb²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Cd²⁺, with extraordinary capture efficiency and performance stability. Furthermore, the used filters, when collected and electrochemically biased in a recycling bath, can release the HMIs into the bath and electrodeposit on the counter-electrode as metallic Hg⁰, Pb⁰, Cu⁰, and Cd⁰, and the PAN-S@ML filter can then be reused at least 6 times as new. The electronically conductive PAN-S@ML filter can be fabricated cheaply and holds promise for scale-up applications.