Isaksenvincent8594
β3-peptides consisting exclusively of β3-amino acids adopt a variety of non-natural helical structures and can self-assemble into well-defined hierarchical structures by axial head-to-tail self-assembly resulting in fibrous materials of varying sizes and shapes. To allow control of fiber morphology, a lipid moiety was introduced within a tri-β3-peptide sequence at each of the three amino acid positions and the N-terminus to gain finer control over the lateral assembly of fibers. Depending on the position of the lipid, the self-assembled structures formed either twisted ribbon-like fibers or distinctive multilaminar nanobelts. The nanobelt structures were comprised of multiple layers of peptide fibrils as revealed by puncturing the surface of the nanobelts with an AFM probe. This stacking phenomenon was completely inhibited through changes in pH, indicating that the layer stacking was mediated by electrostatic interactions. Thus, the present study is the first to show controlled self-assembly of these fibrous structures, which is governed by the location of the acyl chain in combination with the 3-point H-bonding motif. Overall, the results demonstrate that the nanostructures formed by the β3-tripeptide foldamers can be tuned via sequential lipidation of N-acetyl β3-tripeptides which control the lateral interactions between peptide fibrils and provide defined structures with a greater homogeneous population. Copyright © 2020 Habila, Kulkarni, Lee, Al-Garawi, Serpell, Aguilar and Del Borgo.New generation photovoltaic devices have attracted much attention in the last decades since they can be efficiently manufactured employing abundant raw materials and with less-energy intensive processes. In this context, the use of powerful environmental assessment is pivotal to support the fine-tuning of solar cells fabrication and hit the target of manufacturing effective sustainable technological devices. In this work, a mass-based green metrics and life cycle assessment combined approach is applied to analyze the environmental performances of an innovative synthetic protocol for the preparation of organic dye TTZ5, which has been successfully proposed as sensitizer for manufacturing dye sensitized solar cells. The new synthetic strategy, which is based on the C-H activation process, has been compared with the previously reported synthesis employing classic Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling chemistry. Results highlight the contribution of direct energy consumption and purification operations in organic syntheses at lab scale. Furthermore, they demonstrate the usefulness of the environmental multifaceted analytic tool and the power of life cycle assessment to overcome the intrinsic less comprehensive nature of green metrics for the evaluation of organic synthetic protocols. Copyright © 2020 Parisi, Dessì, Zani, Maranghi, Mohammadpourasl, Calamante, Mordini, Basosi, Reginato and Sinicropi.Nitrogen-doped porous carbon materials (NPCMs) are usually obtained by carbonization of complicated nitrogen-containing polymers in the presence of template or physical/chemical activation of the as-synthesized carbon materials. Herein we reported the facile synthesis of NPCMs by direct carbonization of a series of furfuryl amine (FA)-based protic salts ([FA][X], X = NTf2, HSO4, H2PO4, CF3SO3, BF4, NO3, Cl) without any templates, tedious synthetic steps and other advanced techniques. The thermal decomposition of precursors and structure, elemental composition, surface atomic configuration, and porosity of carbons have been carefully investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), combustion elemental analysis, energy-dispersive spectrometry, and nitrogen isotherm adsorption. Different from the parent amine FA that was evaporated below 130°C and no carbon was finally obtained, it was found that all the prepared protic precursors yield NPCMs. These carbon materials were found to exhibit anion structure- dependent carbon yield, chemical composition, and porous structure. The obtained NPCMs can be further exploited as adsorbents for dye removal and decoloration. Among all NPCMs, [FA][H2PO4]-derived carbon owing to its high surface area and special pore structure exhibits the highest adsorption capacities toward both Methylene blue and Rhodamine B. Copyright © 2020 Zhang, Wang, Shen, Duan and Zhang.Adipic acid is one of the most important feedstocks for producing resins, nylons, lubricants, plasticizers. Current industrial petrochemical process, producing adipic acid from KA oil, catalyzed by nitric acid, has a serious pollution to the environment, due to the formation of waste nitrous oxide. Hence, developing cleaner methods to produce adipic acid has attracted much attention of both industry and academia. This mini-review article discussed advances on adipic acid synthesis from bio-renewable feedstocks, as well as most recent progress on cleaner technology from fossil fuels over novel catalytic materials. This work on recent advances in green adipic acid production will provide insights and guidance to further study of various other industrial processes for producing nylon precursors. Copyright © 2020 Yan, Zhang, Wang, Liu, Sun, Zhou, Zhang, Zhang, Xu, Shen and Jin.This review summarizes the syntheses and applications of metal oxysulfides. Bulk compounds of rare earth and transition metals are discussed in the section Introduction. After a presentation of their main properties and applications, their structures are presented and their syntheses are discussed. The section Bulk Materials and Their Main Applications is dedicated to the growing field of nanoscaled metal oxysulfides. selleckchem Synthesis and applications of lanthanide-based nanoparticles are more mature and are discussed first. Then, works on transition-metal based nanoparticles are presented and discussed. Altogether, this review highlights the opportunities offered by metal oxysulfides for application in a range of technological fields, in relation with the most advanced synthetic routes and characterization techniques. Copyright © 2020 Larquet and Carenco.