Jonassonrivers5019
Previously unknown 1,10a-dihydro-1-aza-10a-boraphenanthrene and 6a,7-dihydro-7-aza-6a-boratetraphene have been efficiently synthesized. Bromination of these BN-PAHs proceeds with complete regioselectivity, resulting in the formation of different substituted derivatives via cross-coupling reactions. These compounds exhibit rather high fluorescence quantum yields (up to ϕF = 0.80).Atomically dispersed supported metal catalysts offer new properties and the benefits of maximized metal accessibility and utilization. The characterization of these materials, however, remains challenging. Using atomically dispersed platinum supported on crystalline MgO (chosen for its well-defined bonding sites) as a prototypical example, we demonstrate how systematic density functional theory calculations for assessing all the potentially stable platinum sites, combined with automated analysis of extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra, leads to unbiased identification of isolated, surface-enveloped platinum cations as the catalytic species for CO oxidation. The catalyst has been characterized by atomic-resolution imaging and EXAFS and high-energy resolution fluorescence detection X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy. The proposed platinum sites are in agreement with experiment. This theory-guided workflow leads to rigorously determined structural models and provides a more detailed picture of the structure of the catalytically active site than what is currently possible with conventional EXAFS analyses. As this approach is efficient and agnostic to the metal, support, and catalytic reaction, we posit that it will be of broad interest to the materials characterization and catalysis communities.The 1H NMR chemical shift of water exhibits non-monotonic dependence on the composition of an aqueous mixture of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, [C4mim][Cl], ionic liquid (IL). A clear minimum is observed for the 1H NMR chemical shift at a molar fraction of the IL of 0.34. To scrutinize the molecular mechanism behind this phenomenon, extensive classical molecular dynamics simulations of [C4mim][Cl] IL and its mixtures with water were carried out. A combined quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics approach based on the density functional theory was applied to predict the NMR chemical shifts. The proliferation of strongly hydrogen-bonded complexes between chloride anions and water molecules is found to be the reason behind the increasing 1H NMR chemical shift of water when its molar fraction in the mixture is low and decreasing. The model shows that the chemical shift of water molecules that are trapped in the IL matrix without direct hydrogen bonding to the anions is considerably smaller than the 1H NMR chemical shift predicted for the neat water. The structural features of neat IL and its mixtures with water have also been analyzed in relation to their NMR properties. The 1H NMR spectrum of neat [C4mim][Cl] was predicted and found to be in very reasonable agreement with the experimental data. Finally, the experimentally observed strong dependence of the chemical shift of the proton at position 2 in the imidazolium ring on the composition of the mixture was rationalized.The composition and radiative forcing of light-absorbing brown carbon (BrC) aerosol remain poorly understood. Polycyclic aromatics (PAs) are BrC chromophores with fused benzene rings. Understanding the occurrence and significance of PAs in BrC is challenging due to a lack of standards for many PAs. In this study, we quantified polycyclic aromatic carbon (PAC), defined as the carbon of fused benzene rings, based on molecular markers (benzene polycarboxylic acids, BPCAs). Open biomass burning aerosols (OBBAs) of 22 rainforest plants were successively extracted with water and methanol for the analysis of water- and methanol-soluble PAC (WPAC and MPAC, respectively). PAC is an important fraction of water- and methanol-soluble organic carbon (WSOC and MSOC, respectively). WPAC/WSOC ranged from 0.03 to 0.18, and MPAC/MSOC was even higher (range 0.16-0.80). The priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons contributed less than 1% of MPAC. The mass absorption efficiency (MAE) of MSOC showed a strong linear correlation with MPAC/MSOC (r = 0.60-0.95, p less then 0.01). The absorption Ångström exponent (AAE) of methanol-soluble BrC showed a strong linear correlation with the degree of aromatic condensation of MPAC, which was described by the average number of carboxylic groups of BPCA (r = -0.79, p less then 0.01). This result suggested that PAC was a key fraction determining the light absorption properties (i.e., light absorptivity and wavelength dependence) of methanol-soluble BrC in OBBAs.Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has attracted extensive attention in the clinical treatment of malignant tumor. However, the acidic and hypoxic conditions of the tumor microenvironment (TME) limit the further application of PDT in the clinic. Herein, we fabricate a new nanoplatform─HPDA@MnO2@Ce6/DOX@PEG-RGD (HPMRCD)─by means of coating hollow polydopamine nanoparticles (HPDA) with manganese dioxide (MnO2), which is modified by cyclic RGD functionalized poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and further co-loaded with a photosensitizer, Chlorin e6 (Ce6), and a chemotherapy drug, doxorubicin (DOX). This nanoplatform could be enriched in tumor tissues, then instantly dissociated under an acidic and H2O2-rich TME. The dual-responsive release of Mn2+ ions and oxygen (O2) can relieve tumor hypoxia, which can be used as a magnetic resonance contrast agent and the latter can enhance the PDT effect. Furthermore, the degradation of HPMRCD leads to an efficient loaded therapeutic molecule release, thus yielding a potential therapy to enhance tumor suppression by adopting the combined chemo-photodynamic therapy.The N501Y and K417N mutations in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and their combination gave rise to questions, but the data on their mechanism of action at the molecular level were limited. In this study, we present free energy perturbation (FEP) calculations, performed at the end of December 2020, for the interactions of the spike S1 receptor-binding domain (RBD) with both the ACE2 receptor and an antibody derived from COVID-19 patients. Our results showed that the S1 RBD-ACE2 interactions were significantly increased whereas those with the STE90-C11 antibody dramatically decreased. The K417N mutation in a combination with N501Y fully abolished the antibody effect. However, Lys417Asn seems to have a compensatory mechanism of action increasing the S1 RBD-ACE2 free energy of binding. This may explain the increased spread of the virus observed in the U.K. and South Africa and also gives rise to an important question regarding the possible human immune response and the success of the already available vaccines. Notably, when the experimental data became available confirming our calculations, it was demonstrated that protein-protein FEP can be a useful tool for providing urgent data to the scientific community.Recently, photoassisted charging has been demonstrated as a green and sustainable approach to successfully enhance the capacitance of supercapacitors with low cost and good efficiency. However, their light-induced capacitance enhancement is relatively low and is lost quickly when the illumination is off. In this work, a novel active material system is developed for supercapacitors with the photoassisted charging capability by the decoration of a small amount of Bi2WO6 nanoparticles on an h-WO3 submicron rod surface in situ, which forms a typical type II band alignment heterostructure with a close contact interface through the co-sharing of W atoms between h-WO3 submicron rods and Bi2WO6 nanoparticles. The photogenerated charge carrier separation and transfer are largely enhanced in the h-WO3/Bi2WO6 submicron rod electrode, which subsequently allows more charge carriers to participate in its photoassisted charging process to largely enhance its capacitance improvement under simulated solar illumination than that of the h-WO3 submicron rod electrode. Furthermore, the h-WO3/Bi2WO6 submicron rod electrode could retain its photoinduced capacitance enhancement in the dark for an extended period of time from the photocatalytic memory effect. Thus, our work provides a solution to the two major drawbacks of reported supercapacitors with the light-induced capacitance enhancement property, and supercapacitors based on active materials with the photocatalytic memory effect could be utilized in various technical fields.In recent years, with the rapid development of electric vehicles, the ever-fluctuating cobalt price has become a decisive constraint on the supply chain of the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery industry. To address these challenges, a new and unreported cobalt-free (Co-free) material with a general formula of LiNi0.8Fe0.1Mn0.1O2 (NFM) is introduced. This Co-free material is synthesized via the coprecipitation method and examined by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and density functional theory (DFT) to investigate the morphological, crystal-structure, and electrochemical properties. The NFM cathode can deliver a specific capacity of 202.6 mA h g-1 (0.1C, 3.0-4.5 V), a specific energy capacity of 798.8 W h kg-1 in material level (0.1C, 3.0-4.5 V), a reasonable rate capability, and a stable cycling performance (81.1% discharge capacity retention after 150 cycles at 10C, 3.0-4.3 V). Although the research on this subject is still in its early stage, the capability of this novel cathode material as a practical candidate for applications in next-generation Co-free lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is highlighted in this study.Design and construction of a membrane that can achieve selective separation of uranium from spent fuel or seawater is a big challenge in the field of separation science. this website In this work, 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid (BTC) and three different nitrates (Zn/Ni/Cu) were used to prepare metal-organic frameworks (BTC-MOFs) with different pore sizes, and then, BTC-MOFs were intercalated into the interlayers of graphene oxide (GO) for preparing the composite membranes which presented selective separation of uranium with strong acid resistance. Composite membranes prepared by Zn/Ni/Cu-BTC-MOFs and GO can achieve the separation between ions of different valence states, and their permeability and selectivity depend on the membrane thickness, the acidity of driving solution, and the pore sizes of MOFs. Importantly, Cu-BTC-MOF-intercalated GO membranes can not only achieve the selective separation of Th4+ and UO22+ with a selectivity of ≈6 but also induce the ultra-high selectively separation of UO22+ and Ce3+ because the rejection rate of Ce3+ is about 100%. Moreover, the Zn-BTC-MOF-intercalated GO membrane shows an excellent selectivity of Th4+ and UO22+ with a selectivity of ≈25, and it may also achieve selective separation of uranium from seawater.Non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) can serve as precursors of ozone and photochemical smog, and hence their highly efficient detection is of great importance for air quality monitoring. Here, we synthesized a new fluorescent perylene bisimide (PBI)-cored metallacycle complex through coordination-driven self-assembly and used it for the production of a fluorescent film sensor. The unique rectangular structure of the developed fluorophore endows the sensor with enhanced sensing performance and discriminability to n-alkanes (C5-10). Specifically, the experimental detection limits for n-pentane, n-hexane, and n-decane are 39, 7, and 1.4 mg/m3, respectively, and the corresponding linear ranges are from 39 to 2546, 7 to 1745, and 1.4 to 85 mg/m3, respectively. Moreover, the sensing is fully reversible. In tandem with a gas chromatographic separation system, the film sensor showed comparable detection ability for the n-alkanes with a commercial flame ionization detector (FID), while the film sensor needs no hydrogen; it occupies a much smaller size (30 × 30 × 44 mm3) and consumes less energy (0.