Glycerol-Derived Water-Lean Amines for Post-Combustion CO2 Capture: The Improvement in Capacity and Viscosity.

Water-lean absorbents are regarded as a new generation of post-combustion CO2 capture technology that could significantly relieve those drawbacks posed by traditional aqueous alkanolamines. However, the exponential increase in viscosity during CO2 absorption remains an urgent issue that needs to be resolved before their practical deployment. In this work, novel water-lean amines based on biomass glycerol have been devised as single-component CO2 absorbents with low viscosity (79~110 cP at 25 oC, 29~39 cP at 40 oC) under high capacity (12~18 wt% at 25 oC, 10~17 wt% at 40 oC).

SiOC Phase Control and Carbon Nanoribbon Growth by Introducing Oxygen at Atom Level for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Poor intrinsic conductivity and the presence of irreversible lithiation phase affect the electrochemical performance of silicon oxycarbide anode materials. Even though it can be improved by increasing free carbon content or composition, scarification of reversible capacity and initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) remain as challenge. Here, polycarbosilane (PCS) with alternating distribution of silicon and carbon atoms is employed as precursor of SiOC ceramics.

Investigation of the impact of supplemental reflective films to improve micro-light climate within tomato plant canopy in solar greenhouses.

The non-uniform growth and development of crops within Chinese Solar Greenhouses (CSG) is directly related to the micro-light climate within canopy. In practice, reflective films are used to improve micro-light climate within plant canopy by homogenizing light distribution and so increasing total plant light interception. However, as to our knowledge, the contributions to light distribution within canopy have not been investigated for passive reflector like reflective films.

Analyzing the Impact of Greenhouse Planting Strategy and Plant Architecture on Tomato Plant Physiology and Estimated Dry Matter.

Determine the level of significance of planting strategy and plant architecture and how they affect plant physiology and dry matter accumulation within greenhouses is essential to actual greenhouse plant management and breeding. We thus analyzed four planting strategies (plant spacing, furrow distance, row orientation, planting pattern) and eight different plant architectural traits (internode length, leaf azimuth angle, leaf elevation angle, leaf length, leaflet curve, leaflet elevation, leaflet number/area ratio, leaflet length/width ratio) with the same plant leaf area using a formerly developed functional-structural model for a Chinese Liaoshen-solar greenhouse and tomato plant, which used to simulate the plant physiology of light interception, temperature, stomatal conductance, photosynthesis, and dry matter. Our study led to the conclusion that the planting strategies have a more significant impact overall on plant radiation, temperature, photosynthesis, and dry matter compared to plant architecture changes.

Microscopic origins of the crystallographically preferred growth in evaporation-induced colloidal crystals.

Unlike crystalline atomic and ionic solids, texture development due to crystallographically preferred growth in colloidal crystals is less studied. Here we investigate the underlying mechanisms of the texture evolution in an evaporation-induced colloidal assembly process through experiments, modeling, and theoretical analysis. In this widely used approach to obtain large-area colloidal crystals, the colloidal particles are driven to the meniscus via the evaporation of a solvent or matrix precursor solution where they close-pack to form a face-centered cubic colloidal assembly.

Development of High-Capacity and Water-Lean CO Absorbents by a Concise Molecular Design Strategy through Viscosity Control.

The exponentially increasing viscosity of water-lean CO absorbents during carbon capture processes is a critical problem for practical application, owing to its strong correlation with systems' mass transfer properties, as well as convenience of transportation. In this work, a concise strategy based on structure-viscosity relationships is proposed and applied to construct a series of functionalized ethylenediamines as single-component absorbents for post-combustion CO capture. These nonaqueous absorbents have outstanding viscosities (50-200 cP, 25 °C) at their maximal CO capacities (up to 22 wt % or 4.

Fabrication of double core-shell Si-based anode materials with nanostructure for lithium-ion battery.

Yolk-shell structure is considered to be a well-designed structure of silicon-based anode. However, there is only one point (point-to-point contact) in the contact region between the silicon core and the shell in this structure, which severely limits the ion transport ability of the electrode. In order to solve this problem, it is important that the core and shell of the core-shell structure are closely linked (face-to-face contact), which ensures good ion diffusion ability.

Economical synthesis of composites of FeNi alloy nanoparticles evenly dispersed in two-dimensional reduced graphene oxide as thin and effective electromagnetic wave absorbers.

Developing electromagnetic wave absorbing materials prepared by a facile and economical way is a great challenge. Herein, we report a feasible route to synthesize a series of two-dimensional FeNi/rGO composites by a hydrothermal method followed by a carbonization process. The characterization confirms that nano-sized FeNi alloy nanoparticles are evenly supported onto graphene sheets without aggregation.

Massive preparation of pitch-based organic microporous polymers for gas storage.

A general challenge for preparing organic microporous polymers (MOPs) is to use cheap and sustainable building blocks while retaining the advanced functions. We demonstrate a strategy to massively prepare pitch-based MOPs, which are thermally and chemically stable. A maximum BET surface area of 758 m(2) g(-1) and high gas storage capacity were achieved.

Cu(II)-catalyzed esterification reaction via aerobic oxidative cleavage of C(CO)-C(alkyl) bonds.

A novel Cu(II)-catalyzed aerobic oxidative esterification of simple ketones for the synthesis of esters has been developed with wide functional group tolerance. This process is assumed to go through a tandem sequence consisting of α-oxygenation/esterification/nucleophilic addition/C-C bond cleavage and carbon dioxide is released as the only byproduct.

Highly efficient SO2 absorption/activation and subsequent utilization by polyethylene glycol-functionalized Lewis basic ionic liquids.

Up to now, flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) is one of the most effective techniques to control SO(2) emission from the combustion of fossil fuels. The conventional technology for FGD poses serious inherent drawbacks such as formation of byproducts and volatilization of solvents. In this work, polyethylene glycol (PEG)-functionalized Lewis basic ionic liquids (ILs) derived from DABCO were proved to be highly efficient absorbents for FGD due to its specific features such as high thermal stability, negligible vapor pressure, high loading capacity.

Equimolar CO2 capture by N-substituted amino acid salts and subsequent conversion.

Steric bulk controls CO(2) absorption: N-substituted amino acid salts in poly(ethylene glycol) reversibly absorb CO(2) in nearly 1:1 stoichiometry. Carbamic acid is thought to be the absorbed form of CO(2); this was supported by NMR and in situ IR spectroscopy, and DFT calculations. The captured CO(2) could be converted directly into oxazolidinones and thus CO(2) desorption could be sidestepped.

Synthesis and liquid crystallinity of dendronized carbohydrate liquid crystal.

A dendronized carbohydrate thermotropic liquid crystal was synthesized by attaching wedge-shaped mesogens onto a carbohydrate core. These molecules self-organize into chiral columnar hexagonal mesophase with each column slice (4.5 Å thicknesses) filled with average of two molecules.

Tuning mesomorphic properties and handedness of chiral calamitic liquid crystals by minimal modification of the effective core.

Two pairs of calamitic liquid crystalline molecules, (+)-2-[4'-(S)-sec-butoxyphenyl]-5-(4'-hexoxyphenyl)toluene ((+)-S-1) and (+)-2-(4'-hexoxyphenyl)-5-[4'-(S)-sec-butoxyphenyl]toluene ((+)-S-2), (-)-2-[4'-(R)-sec-butoxyphenyl]-5-(4'-hexoxyphenyl)toluene ((-)-R-1) and (-)-2-(4'-hexoxyphenyl)-5-[4'-(R)-sec-butoxyphenyl]toluene ((-)-R-2), have been designed and synthesized. Each of the molecules consists of a p-terphenyl core substituted with a methyl group on the middle ring, a chiral sec-butoxy tail, and an achiral n-hexoxy tail. The geometrical difference between (+)-S-1 ((-)-R-1) and (+)-S-2 ((-)-R-2) lies only in the location of the methyl group on the effective mesogenic core.

Unusual chiral transfer in radical copolymerization of vinyl monomers bearing side-on p-terphenyl pendants.

Radical copolymerization of a chiral monomer, (+)-2,5-bis[4'-((S)-2-methylbutoxy)phenyl]styrene and an achiral monomer, 2,5-bis(4'-hexyloxyphenyl)styrene, is carried out in anisole at 90 degrees C with benzoyl peroxide as the initiator. The resultant optically active helical copolymers show an unusual linear relationship between optical activity and composition, in sharp contrast with Green's "sergeants-and-soldiers" and "majority" rules. Analysis of the polarimetry, circular dichroism, and chain extension results suggest that the weak steric interaction between the propagation helical radical and the incoming monomer drove the copolymer chain to grow in a specific direction.

Tuning the helicity of self-assembled structure of a sugar-based organogelator by the proper choice of cooling rate.

A novel sugar-appended low-molecular-mass gelator, 4''-butoxy-4-hydroxy-p-terphenyl-beta-D-glucoside (BHTG), was synthesized. It formed thermally reversible gels in a variety of aqueous and organic solvents. Three-dimensional networks made up of helical ribbons were observed in the mixture of H(2)O/1,4-dioxane (40/60 v/v).

Synthesis and characterization of near-infrared absorbing and fluorescent liquid-crystal chromophores.

This work demonstrates that the donor-acceptor-donor charge-transfer chromophores can be tailor-made to be near-infrared absorbing and fluorescent, as well as being liquid crystals. The chromophore containing an extremely strong acceptor of benzo[1,2-c:4,5-c']bis([1,2,5]thiadiazole) can form a columnar mesophase that absorbs at 890 nm and emits at 1160 nm in the solid state. These chromophores are readily soluble in common organic solvents and can form thin films by casting or spin coating, making them suitable for further device applications.

Quaternary ammonium bromide functionalized polyethylene glycol: a highly efficient and recyclable catalyst for selective synthesis of 5-aryl-2-oxazolidinones from carbon dioxide and aziridines under solvent-free conditions.

A quaternary ammonium bromide covalently bound to polyethylene glycol (PEG, MW = 6000), i.e., PEG(6000-)(NBu(3)Br)2, was found to be an efficient and recyclable catalyst for the cycloaddition reaction of aziridines to CO(2) under mild conditions without utilization of additional organic solvents or cocatalysts.

Solvent effect on the aggregation behavior of rod-coil diblock copolymers.

The water-induced aggregation behavior of rod-coil diblock copolymers based on poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly{(+)-2,5-bis[4'-((S)-2-methylbutoxy)phenyl]styrene} (PMBPS), PEO104-b-PMBPS53, was investigated in the common solvent THF and in the selective solvent dioxane. Before adding water, PEO104-b-PMBPS53 stayed as single polymer chains no matter what conformation the PEO block took (i.e.

Controlled fabrication of cross-linked nanoparticles/polymer composite thin films through the combined use of surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization and gas/solid reaction.

A promising strategy for the controlled synthesis of inorganic/polymeric nanocomposites may be sustained by fabricating cross-linked PbS nanoparticles/polymer composite thin films through combining surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and gas/solid reaction. The introduction of Pb ions through the extension of surface-initiated ATRP to the monomers containing metal ions provides an opportunity for generating nanoparticles on the substrate.