Growth of copper oxide nanocrystals in metallic nanotubes for high performance battery anodes.

A rational integration of 1D metallic nanotubes and oxide nanoparticles has been demonstrated as a viable strategy for the production of both highly stable and efficient anodes for lithium ion batteries. We encapsulated copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles in ultra-long metallic copper nanotubes with engineered interspaces, and explored their electrochemical properties. Such a hierarchical architecture provides three important features: (i) a continuous nanoscale metallic Cu shell to minimize electronic/ionic transmitting impedance; (ii) a unique quasi-one-dimensional structure with a large aspect ratio to reduce self-aggregation; (iii) free space for volume expansion of CuO nanoparticles and stable solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation.

Photopolymerisation and characterization of maleylatedcellulose-g-poly(acrylic acid) superabsorbent polymer.

A novel biodegradable superabsorbent polymer has been prepared from maleylated cotton stalk cellulose (MCSC) crosslinker and acrylic acid (AA) by ultraviolet (UV) photopolymerization in aqueous solution at room temperature, and irgacure 651 as a photoinitiator. The resulting superabsorbent was characterized by FT-IR, (1)H NMR, SEM and TGA. The effects of preparation conditions such as degree of substitution (DS), amount of maleylated cotton stalk cellulose, exposed time, photoinitiator amount and monomer concentration on the water absorbency and the monomer conversion in graft were evaluated.

An efficient three component one-pot synthesis of 5-amino-7-aryl-7,8-dihydro-[1,2,4] triazolo[4,3-a]-pyrimidine-6-carbonitriles.

A series of novel 5-amino-7-aryl-7,8-dihydro-[1,2,4] triazolo[4,3-a]-pyrimidine-6-carbonitriles were synthesized by a one-pot reaction of 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole, malononitrile and aryl aldehydes in the presence of 20 mol% NaOH in ethanol under heating or ultrasonic irradiation. The structures of the target compounds were confirmed by inspection of their (1)H- NMR, (13)C-NMR, IR and MS spectra. The advantages of this method are short reaction times, good yields, high selectivity and operational simplicity.