Creation of Cationic Polymeric Nanotrap Featuring High Anion Density and Exceptional Alkaline Stability for Highly Efficient Pertechnetate Removal from Nuclear Waste Streams.

There is an urgent need for highly efficient sorbents capable of selectively removing TcO from concentrated alkaline nuclear wastes, which has long been a significant challenge. In this study, we present the design and synthesis of a high-performance adsorbent, CPN-3 (CPN denotes cationic polymeric nanotrap), which achieves excellent TcO capture under strong alkaline conditions by incorporating branched alkyl chains on the N3 position of imidazolium units and optimizing the framework anion density within the pores of a cationic polymeric nanotrap. CPN-3 features exceptional stability in harsh alkaline and radioactive environments as well as exhibits fast kinetics, high adsorption capacity, and outstanding selectivity with full reusability and great potential for the cost-effective removal of TcO/ReO from contaminated water.

Inserting an "atomic trap" for directional dopant migration in core/multi-shell quantum dots.

Diffusion of atoms or ions in solid crystalline lattice is crucial in many areas of solid-state technology. However, controlling ion diffusion and migration is challenging in nanoscale lattices. In this work, we intentionally insert a CdZnS alloyed interface layer, with small cationic size mismatch with Mn(ii) dopant ions, as an "atomic trap" to facilitate directional (outward and inward) dopant migration inside core/multi-shell quantum dots (QDs) to reduce the strain from the larger cationic mismatch between dopants and host sites.

Interfacial B-Site Ion Diffusion in All-Inorganic Core/Shell Perovskite Nanocrystals.

All-inorganic metal halide perovskites (ABX, X = Cl, Br, or I) show great potential for the fabrication of optoelectronic devices, but the toxicity and instability of lead-based perovskites limit their applications. Shell passivation with a more stable lead-free perovskite is a promising strategy to isolate unstable components from the environment as well as a feasible way to tune the optical properties. However, it is challenging to grow core/shell perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) due to the soft ionic nature of the perovskite lattice.

Actinide arene-metalates: ion pairing effects on the electronic structure of unsupported uranium-arenide sandwich complexes.

Addition of [UI(THF)(μ-OMe)]·THF (·THF) to THF solutions containing 6 equiv. of K[CH] generates the heteroleptic dimeric complexes [K(18-crown-6)(THF)][U(η-CH)(η-CH)(μ-OMe)]·4THF (·4THF) and {[K(THF)][U(η-CH)(η-CH)(μ-OMe)]} () upon crystallization of the products in THF in the presence or absence of 18-crown-6, respectively. Both ·4THF and are thermally stable in the solid-state at room temperature; however, after crystallization, they become insoluble in THF or DME solutions and instead gradually decompose upon standing.

Mechanistic insight into copper cation exchange in cadmium selenide semiconductor nanocrystals using X-ray absorption spectroscopy.

In terms of producing new advances in sustainable nanomaterials, cation exchange (CE) of post-processed colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) has opened new avenues towards producing non-toxic energy materials via simple chemical techniques. The main processes governing CE can be explained by considering hard/soft acid/base theory, but the detailed mechanism of CE, however, has been debated and has been attributed to both diffusion and vacancy processes. In this work, we have performed in situ x-ray absorption spectroscopy to further understand the mechanism of the CE of copper in solution phase CdSe NCs.