A spin-crossover catecholato–iron(III) system: Synthesis,crystal structure and magnetic properties

A new mononuclear Fe(III)–catecholate complex, which exhibits an incomplete spin transition without hysteresis, had been synthesized and structurally characterized. Analyzed from the structural characteristics, the tripodal ligand must play the important role in affecting the spin crossover (SCO) behavior. The larger steric strain effect and weak cooperativity existed in the crystal lattice are inclined to favor the incomplete transition.     

pH-sensitive carbon dots for the visualization of regulation of intracellular pH inside living pathogenic fungal cells

In this paper, the pH-sensitive carbon dots were synthesized by simple one-pot hydrothermal treatment of threonine. The fluorescence of the as-synthesized carbon dots was featured by pH dependence, with the intensity decreasing as pH increases. The carbon dots can be readily internalized into plant pathogenic fungal cells for imaging with dose dependence. Moreover, intracellular pH regulation, a kind of physiological functions of living fungal cells, was visually expressed as the variation of fluorescence intensity of the internalized carbon dots. A transient reduction of the intracellular pH tightly regulated by living fungal cells under basic external condition can be presented as a gradual increase in fluorescence intensity of the carbon dots. On the contrary, the fluorescence of the carbon dots distributed in apple tissue infected by the fungal cells was soon quenched by the basic buffer because there was no intracellular pH regulation in the dead cells.     

Photocurable ceramic/monomer feedstocks containing terpene crystals as sublimable porogen for UV curing-assisted 3D plotting

This study presents a novel strategy to construct ceramic structures comprised of microporous filaments using photocurable ceramic/monomer feedstocks containing terpene crystals as sublimable porogens for UV curing-assisted 3D plotting technique. The biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) feedstock, composed of frozen terpene crystals surrounded by BCP/UDMA walls, could be favorably extruded through a fine nozzle and then effectively photopolymerized by UV light. Thus, green filaments with high shape retention could be obtained. In addition, a number of pores could be created in BCP filaments after removing terpene crystals via freeze-drying and the porosity could be tailored by adjusting terpene content in BCP feedstocks. This approach allowed for the construction of dual-scale porous structures comprising microporous filaments in a periodic pattern, with tailored overall porosities and compressive strengths. Several types of self-supporting structures were also successfully constructed using our approach.     

光固化复合电泳涂层材料的制备及其传感性能

目的 研究电泳沉积条件及光交联对氧化石墨烯与胶束共沉积制备的生物传感涂层形貌、性能的影响。方法 首先通过光敏单体甲基丙烯酸羟乙酯（HEMA）改性生物大分子γ-聚谷氨酸制备可光交联的大分子γ-PGA-HEMA。然后,将光敏大分子与辣根过氧化酶（HRP）在溶液中静电自组装制备功能性纳米粒子溶液,利用纳米粒度分析仪、透射电子显微镜（TEM）对纳米粒子的粒径和形貌进行表征。随后,诱导复合纳米组装体与前驱体氧化石墨烯（GO）共组装制备多组分复合沉积液。最后,在上述复合沉积液的基础上进行电化学还原GO,控制不同沉积条件,通过电泳沉积法在玻碳电极表面制备具有特异性识别功能的生物传感涂层,利用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、电化学工作站等研究了电泳沉积条件及光交联对涂层形貌及性能的影响。结果 当沉积电压为1.5 V,沉积时间为120 s,GO质量浓度为0.1 mg/mL时,电泳沉积制备的涂层表面光滑,具有较好的致密性和均一性。光交联后,涂层的致密性和稳定性进一步提高,此时该涂层对过氧化氢（H2O2）具有良好的电流响应。结论 电泳沉积复合共组装胶束制备光交联涂层过程中,沉积时间、沉积电压、GO含量均存在最优值,最优值下制备的涂层结构完整,致密性最好。光交联可进一步提高涂层的稳定性,生物传感性能最好。     

The synthesis,characterization and DFT calculations of highly volatile aminogermylene precursors and thin film investigation for CVD/ALD technology

Compared to the difficult volatilization for germanium (IV) precursors, germanium (II) precursors usually have better volatilization but difficult to synthesize. A series of diamine germanium (II) precursors were synthesized, characterized and investigated by DFT calculations. These germanium (II) precursors were tested by TG experiments and showed excellent volatilization, which were suitable as a potential membrane material. Moreover, the Ge film was deposited on Si wafer directly and characterized by SEM.     

Electrodeposited Pt nanorods on a novel flowered-like nanostructured NiCo alloy as an electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation

For the first time, a novel system of Pt nanorods supported on nano flowered-like structure NiCo alloy has been successfully electro-synthesized onto a glassy carbon electrode for the electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol. The electrodeposited system has been characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The electrocatalytic efficiency of the electro-fabricated system of Pt/NiCo/GCE have been confirmed by cyclic voltammetric (CV) and current-time methods. It is discovered that the electrodeposited nano flowered NiCo alloy substrate has a great effect on the electrocatalytic properties of the electrodeposited Pt nanorods. The electrocatalytic efficiency of the new system for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) is found to be 174 A/g_Pt. The effect of electrodeposition time for NiCo alloy has been studied. Also, the effect of pH, temperature, and concentration for the electrodeposition of Pt catalyst on the electrocatalytic properties of the Pt/NiCo/GCE have been studied for detection the optimum conditions. The mechanism of the electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol has been discussed. Furthermore, the stability and the corrosion resistance test of the Pt/NiCo/GCE system have been investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), Tafel plot and current-time methods.     

Ultrathin MoSSe alloy nanosheets anchored on carbon nanotubes as advanced catalysts for hydrogen evolution

The activity of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) derives from the active sites at the edges, but the basal surface still remain catalytic insert. Herein, ultrathin MoSSe alloy nanosheets array on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to form a core shell structure via a simple solvothermal process. These three-dimensional (3D) MoSSe hybrids show a high activity in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with a small Tafel slope of 38 mV dec⁻¹ and a low overpotential of 102 mV at 10 mA cm⁻². In addition, their HER activity remains remarkably stable without significant decay after 100 h polarization. Such superior catalytic HER activity springs from the 3D hierarchical heterostructure, which is abundant of catalytic edge sites, and the alloy effect between S and Se, which will create huge defects and strain to form vacancy sites on the basal plane. This strategy may open a new avenue toward the development of nonprecious high-performance HER catalysts.     

Facile fabrication of a binary NiCo phosphide with hierarchical architecture for efficient hydrogen evolution reactions

Exploring and designing efficient non-noble catalysts formed by element doping and nanostructure modification for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is of critical importance with respect to sustainable resources. Herein, we have prepared a three-dimensional binary NiCo phosphide with hierarchical architecture (HA) composed of NiCoP nanosheets and nanowires grown on carbon cloth (CC) via a facile hydrothermal method followed by oxidation and phosphorization. Due to its unique hierarchical nanostructure, the NiCoP HA/CC electrocatalyst exhibits excellent performance and good working stability for the HER in both acidic and alkaline conditions. The obtained NiCoP HA/CC shows excellent HER activity with a low potential of 74 and 89 mV at 10 mA cm⁻², a small Tafel slope of 77.2 and 99.8 mV dec⁻¹ and long-term stability up to 24 h in acidic and alkaline electrolyte, respectively. NiCoP HA/CC, a non-noble metal material, is a promising electrocatalyst to replace noble metal-based electrocatalysts for the HER.     

Sol-gel synthesis of ternary conducting polymer hydrogel for application in all-solid-state flexible supercapacitor

In this contribution, we reported the preparation of a novel conducting polymer hydrogel (CPH) by a sol-gel method, which was subsequently employed to fabricate a flexible all-solid-state supercapacitor device. Taking advantage of the synergistic effects of the different components in the conducting polymer hydrogel and the merits of the proposed synthesis strategies, the prepared supercapacitor device with CPH as electrode exhibited high area-normalized capacitance (2.2 F cm⁻²), high gravimetric capacitance (1573.6 F g⁻¹) as well as high energy density of 0.18 mWh cm⁻² (or 128.7 Wh Kg⁻¹) at 0.08  mW cm⁻² (or 55.1 W kg⁻¹). This study did not only represent a novel all-solid-state, high performance, flexible supercapacitor with potential applications in flexible energy-related devices, but also developed a new method for enhancing capacitances and mechanical stability of all-solid-state flexible supercapacitor.