Site-Specific for CO Photoreduction with Single-Atom Ni on Strained TiO Derived from Bimetallic Metal-Organic Frameworks.

The photocatalytic reduction of CO in water to produce fuels and chemicals is promising while challenging. However, many photocatalysts for accomplishing such challenging task usually suffer from unspecific catalytic active sites and the inefficient charge carrier's separation. Here, a site-specific single-atom Ni/TiO catalyst is reported by in situ topological transformation of Ni-Ti-EG bimetallic metal-organic frameworks.

Density Functional Theory Study on the Mechanism of Nickel-Catalyzed 3,3-Dialkynylation of 2-Aryl Acrylamides Via Double Vinylic C-H Bond Activation.

The mechanisms of Ni-catalyzed 3,3-dialkynylation of 2-aryl acrylamide have been investigated by using density functional theory calculations. The result shows that this reaction includes double alkynylation, which involves sequential key steps of vinylic C-H bond activation, successive oxidative addition, and reductive elimination, with the second C-H bond activation being the rate-determining step. C-H and N-H bond activation occurs via the concerted metalation-deprotonation mechanism.

Selective Access to Silacyclopentanes and Homoallylsilanes by La-Catalyzed Hydrosilylations of 1-Aryl Methylenecyclopropanes.

Methylenecyclopropanes (MCPs) have emerged as versatile building blocks in synthetic chemistry because of their unique reactivity. However, metal-catalyzed hydrosilylation of MCPs has met with very limited successes. In this paper, catalytic selective hydrosilylations of MCPs with some primary silanes using an ene-diamido lanthanum ate complex as the catalyst were described.

Structural design and preparation of TiCT MXene/polymer composites for absorption-dominated electromagnetic interference shielding.

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is a pervasive and harmful phenomenon in modern society that affects the functionality and reliability of electronic devices and poses a threat to human health. To address this issue, EMI-shielding materials with high absorption performance have attracted considerable attention. Among various candidates, two-dimensional MXenes are promising materials for EMI shielding due to their high conductivity and tunable surface chemistry.

Development of Electromagnetic-Wave-Shielding Polyvinylidene Fluoride-TiCT MXene-Carbon Nanotube Composites by Improving Impedance Matching and Conductivity.

Absorption-dominated electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding is attained by improving impedance matching and conductivity through structural design. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-TiCT MXene-single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) composites with layered heterogeneous conductive fillers and segregated structures were prepared through electrostatic flocculation and hot pressing of the PVDF composite microsphere-coated MXene and SWCNTs in a layer-by-layer fashion. Results suggest that the heterogeneous fillers improve impedance matching and layered coating, and hot compression allows the MXene and SWCNTs to form a continuous conducting network at the PVDF interface, thereby conferring excellent conductivity to the composite.

Computational Study of Iron-Catalyzed Intramolecular [2 + 2] Cycloaddition and Cycloisomerization of Enyne Acetates: Mechanism and Selectivity.

The mechanism of iron-catalyzed intramolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition and cycloisomerization of enyne acetates has been investigated with DFT computations. Both mechanisms start the catalytic cycle from the stepwise 1,2-acyloxy migration to afford the iron carbene. The [2 + 2] cycloaddition mechanism involves subsequent key steps of [2 + 2] cycloaddition, 1,2-acyloxy migration, and reductive elimination to generate the azabicyclo [3.

Robust and Multifunctional 3D Graphene-Based Aerogels Reinforced by Hydroxyapatite Nanowires for Highly Efficient Organic Solvent Adsorption and Fluoride Removal.

In view of the serious perniciousness and complex diversity of actual wastewater systems, exploiting a robust and multifunctional adsorbent material featuring high sorption efficiency, broad-spectrum applicability, and excellent recyclability in treating multifarious pollutants in water (such as oils and fluoride ions) is highly required; however, it is still a daunting goal to pursue to date. In this work, novel mechanically robust and exceptional graphene oxide/hydroxyapatite nanowire (GO/HAPNW) aerogels (RGHAs/polydopamine (PDA)@RGHAs) with adjustable surface wettability were developed through a facile sol-gel self-assembly technology and subsequently optional bioinspired hydrophilic modification. Thanks to the reinforcing effect of HAPNWs with higher aspect ratio, a remarkably improved mechanical robustness (including superior compressibility and superelasticity) was acquired for the resulting aerogels.

Facile construction of gas diode membrane towards in situ gas consumption via coupling two chemical reactions.

Controlling the bubbles' behavior on a solid surface is significant for exploring more related applications and thus recently has attracted increased investigations. Based on this, a Janus poly (l-lactic acid) (PLLA) membrane with definitely opposite water wettability in air and opposite bubble wettability underwater was successfully fabricated in this work. The obtained Janus membrane exhibited unidirectional transport for air bubble underwater from the superaerophilic side to superaerophobic side, meanwhile prevented the permeation of water medium from both sides under low pressure.

Robust Graphene/Poly(vinyl alcohol) Janus Aerogels with a Hierarchical Architecture for Highly Efficient Switchable Separation of Oil/Water Emulsions.

Given the complexity and diversity of actual oily sewages, developing multifunctional separation materials with features of high separation efficiency and low energy consumption for separating diverse oil/water emulsions is urgently needed, yet it remains a formidable challenge till now. Herein, a superior graphene/poly(vinyl alcohol) Janus aerogel (J-CGPA), showing an intriguing three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical architecture (a dense skin-layer and a larger internal cell network) and desirable asymmetric wettability, was exploited via a simple direct freeze-shaping technique and subsequent mussel-inspired hydrophilic modification. Benefiting from the controlled unilateral decoration of dopamine, the resultant aerogels displayed completely opposite superwettability on two antithetic sides, i.

Facile fabrication of long-chain alkyl functionalized ultrafine reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites for enhanced tribological performance.

Due to their ultrathin 2D laminated structure as well as excellent mechanical and thermal stabilities, ultrafine graphene-based nanoparticles exhibit fascinating advantages as highly-efficient lubricant additives. However, it remains a daunting challenge to achieve good and durable dispersion of these graphene-based nanoparticles in lubricating oils. Herein, we report a facile and efficient integration strategy involving particle size miniaturization, surface grafting with octadecyl alcohol (OA), and partial chemical reduction to prepare a novel long-chain alkyl functionalized ultrafine reduced graphene oxide (RGO--OA) with highly-dispersive capacity and superior tribological performance.

Tunable adhesion of superoleophilic/superhydrophobic poly (lactic acid) membrane for controlled-release of oil soluble drugs.

Superhydrophobic membranes with tunable adhesion have attracted intense interests for various engineering applications. In this work, superhydrophobic sustainable poly (lactic acid) (PLA) porous membrane with tunable adhesive force from 101μN to 29μN was successfully fabricated via one-step phase separation method. The incorporation of Perfluoro-1-decene (PFD) into the PLLA/PDLA membrane via the in situ polymerization can facilely tune the PLLA/PDLA stereocomplex crystallization during phase inversion, which consequently caused the unique morphology blooming evolution from bud to full-blown state.

Dual layer hollow fiber PVDF ultra-filtration membranes containing Ag nano-particle loaded zeolite with longer term anti-bacterial capacity in salt water.

Dual layer polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), antibacterial, hollow fiber, ultra-filtration composite membranes with antibacterial particles (silver (Ag) nano-particles loaded zeolite (Z-Ag)) in the outer layer were prepared with high water flux and desired pore sizes. The amounts of Ag(+) released from the composite membranes, freshly made and stored in water and salt solution, were measured. The result indicated that dual layer PVDF antibacterial hollow fiber containing Z-Ag (M-1-Ag) still possessed the ability of continuous release of Ag(+) even after exposure to water with high ionic content, showing a longer term resistance to bacterial adhesion and antibacterial activity than membrane doped with Z-Ag(+) (M-1).