One‐Step Fast Synthesis of Li4Ti5O12 Particles Using an Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet

A one‐step process to fabricate crystalline Li₄Ti₅O₁₂(LTO) particles directly from solution using an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) is reported. This process uses Ti and Li ions‐containing salt solutions as the precursor, which is ultrasonically nebulized and then transported to the downstream of the APPJ using a carrier gas. With an extremely short contact time (<0.1 s) between the precursor droplets and the plasma jet, crystalline LTO can be fabricated in one step without additional rinse and postannealing steps. The LTO particle size can be effectively controlled using a preheater, the precursor solution composition and concentration, and the carrier gas flow rate. By properly adjusting the operating condition, particles of diameters from 100 nm to few μm with various morphologies can be obtained. When used as an electrode material, the resulting LTO powders fabricated under selected conditions show specific capacities over 100 mAh/g even at 50 C rate.     

Scalable Gaussian Normal Basis Multipliers over GF(2<Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">m</Emphasis></Superscript>) Using Hankel Matrix-Vector Representation

This work presents a novel scalable multiplication algorithm for a type-t Gaussian normal basis (GNB) of GF(2^m). Utilizing the basic characteristics of MSD-first and LSD-first schemes with d-bit digit size, the GNB multiplication can be decomposed into n(n + 1) Hankel matrix-vector multiplications. where n = (mt + 1)/d. The proposed scalable architectures for computing GNB multiplication comprise of one d × d Hankel multiplier, four registers and one final reduction polynomial circuit. Using the relationship of the basis conversion from the GNB to the normal basis, we also present the modified scalable multiplier which requires only nk Hankel multiplications, where k = mt/2d if m is even or k = (mt − t + 2)/2d if m is odd. The developed scalable multipliers have the feature of scalability. It is shown that, as the selected digit size d ≥ 8, the proposed scalable architectures have significantly lower time-area complexity than existing digit-serial multipliers. Moreover, the proposed architectures have the features of regularity, modularity, and local interconnection ability. Accordingly, they are well suited for VLSI implementation.     

裂解气相色谱-质谱法鉴别双组分丙烯酸汽车清漆

为了提高微量物证鉴定中对双组分丙烯酸汽车清漆的鉴别能力，采用裂解气相色谱-质谱法(Py-GC/MS)检测该类清漆，并考察该方法在鉴定实践中的适用性。该方法的重现性好，丙烯酸聚氨酯清漆3个裂解单体的相对峰面积的日内RSD不大于5.3%，日间RSD不大于10.6%。应用该方法对6种丙烯酸氨基树脂汽车清漆样品及一例微量物证案件送检样品进行检测，结果表明，裂解气相色谱-质谱法对双组分丙烯酸汽车清漆的鉴别能力优于红外光谱法。在微量物证鉴定实践中，需要根据检材量酌情使用此方法，并注意“先无损后有损”的检验顺序。     

Deubiquitinases as Anticancer Targets of Gold Complexes

Metal-based anticancer agents with non-DNA targets are anticipated for overcoming cisplatin resistance problems. Gold complexes are generally known to undergo ligand exchange or redox reactions with thiols, and hence, are potentially useful agents that could target thiol-containing enzymes, but not DNA. Recent studies have shown that deubiquitinases (DUBs), key enzymes regulating proteasome-related protein homeostasis, are potential anticancer targets of both gold(I) and gold(III) complexes. In this review, the current status of gold complexes as DUB inhibitors is discussed. In particular, auranofin and cyclometalated gold(III) complexes containing dithiocarbamate ligands (e.g., [(Au^III(C N)(DEDT)]⁺, HC N=2-phenylpyridine, DEDT=diethyldithiocarbamate) are highlighted as examples of DUB inhibitors. The mechanisms of their anticancer action, together with in vitro and/or in vivo antitumor potencies, are also explored.     

Photoactive Earth‐Abundant Iron Pyrite Catalysts for Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction Reaction

The generation of ammonia, hydrogen production, and nitrogen purification are considered as energy intensive processes accompanied with large amounts of CO₂ emission. An electrochemical method assisted by photoenergy is widely utilized for the chemical energy conversion. In this work, earth‐abundant iron pyrite (FeS₂) nanocrystals grown on carbon fiber paper (FeS₂/CFP) are found to be an electrochemical and photoactive catalyst for nitrogen reduction reaction under ambient temperature and pressure. The electrochemical results reveal that FeS₂/CFP achieves a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) of ≈14.14% and NH₃ yield rate of ≈0.096 µg min^?1 at ?0.6 V versus RHE electrode in 0.25 m LiClO₄. During the electrochemical catalytic reaction, the crystal structure of FeS₂/CFP remains in the cubic pyrite phase, as analyzed by in situ X‐ray diffraction measurements. With near‐infrared laser irradiation (808 nm), the NH₃ yield rate of the FeS₂/CFP catalyst can be slightly improved to 0.1 µg min^?1 with high FE of 14.57%. Furthermore, density functional theory calculations demonstrate that the N₂ molecule has strong chemical adsorption energy on the iron atom of FeS₂. Overall, iron pyrite‐based materials have proven to be a potential electrocatalyst with photoactive behavior for ammonia production in practical applications.     

Highly refractive polyimides containing pyridine and sulfur units: synthesis and thermal,mechanical, solubility and optical properties

Two series of isomers containing pyridine and sulfur unit aromatic diamine monomers, 4,4′‐bis(5‐amino‐2‐pyridinylsulfanyl)diphenyl sulfide ( 2a ), 4,4′‐bis(6‐amino‐3‐pyridinylsulfanyl)diphenyl sulfide ( 2b ) and 4,4′‐bis(5‐amino‐6‐methyl‐2‐pyridinylsulfanyl)diphenyl sulfide ( 2c ), 4,4′‐bis(5‐amino‐4‐methyl‐2‐pyridinylsulfanyl)diphenyl sulfide ( 2d ), were designed and synthesized. Aimed at clarifying the structure–property relationships of pyridine‐ and sulfur‐containing high refractive polymers, 2a was polymerized with various dianhydrides to prepare polyimides PI ‐1?PI ‐7 and 2b , 2c , 2d were reacted with 4,4′‐[p ‐thiobis(phenylenesulfanyl)]diphthalic anhydride to prepare polyimides PI ‐8?PI ‐10. The polyimides showed excellent optical properties with average refractive indices ranging from 1.7006 to 1.7620 and birefringence as low as 0.0056. Meanwhile, comparative studies on their properties including solubility, thermal and mechanical, and optical transparency properties were performed. Some property differences of the isomers caused by the sequence changes were found. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry     

Evaluation of maleic acid-based copolymers containing polyoxyethylene ether as inhibitors for CaCO3 scale

Polymer scale inhibitors have been widely used to reduce the loss caused by mineral scaling in circulating cooling water systems. In this article, four maleic acid-based copolymers [hydrolyzed polymaleic anhydride (HPMA)-AEO] containing different fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether (such as AEO-9, AEO-10, AEO-15, and AEO-20) are prepared by the way of free-radical copolymerization and characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), ¹H NMR, and gel permeation chromatographic (GPC) techniques. The effects of HPMA-AEO on CaCO₃ scale are studied in several aspects (such as dose, Ca²⁺ concentration, temperature, inhibition time, pH, the ratio of EO:carboxyl, and the relative supersaturation of CaCO₃ solution) by static experiments. The CaCO₃ scaling process with dosing of HPMA-AEO-9 is investigated under dynamic tests. CaCO₃ deposits and precipitate in the presence of HPMA-AEO-9 are analyzed using scanning electronic microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results show that the performance of HPMA-AEO against CaCO₃ scale highly depends upon the ratio of EO:carboxyl; the introduction of AEO group can significantly improve the performance of HPMA-AEO to tolerate high alkalinity, high hardness, and high temperature; the presence of HPMA-AEO-9 can obviously affect the CaCO₃ scaling process on the tube wall through interfering with nucleation process and crystal growth process and significantly alter the surface morphology and crystal form of CaCO₃ deposits. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47470     

The study on the properties of TiCxN1−x coatings processed by cathodic arc physical vapour deposition

Titanium carbonitride (TiCN) is a popular hard coating for carbide cutting tools in various applications. The properties of TiCN are within its composition and can be controlled by maintaining the C–N ratio within the coating to a certain level. This paper studied the influence of carbon content and coating composition within TiC_xN_1?x coatings with regard to their mechanical properties. The substrate used was tungsten carbide (WC-6Co), which was prepared in-house through a powder metallurgy process, while the TiC_xN_1?x coatings were deposited in-house using cathodic arc physical vapour deposition (CAPVD). TiC_xN_1?x coatings improved the mechanical properties of carbide inserts. An increase in carbon content within TiC_xN_1?x coatings improved surface lubricity, reduced coefficient of friction, improved surface microhardness and increased Young's modulus, but reduced thermal conductivity of carbide inserts. The colour of TiC_xN_1?x coatings also changed with carbon content.