Thiourea-Driven Mild Synthesis of Photochromic Zeolite without H for Transient Information Storage.

The synthesis of hackmanite has been a topic of research for nearly 100 years, but up to now, the reported synthesis methods inevitably use reducing H to introduce the F-center through high-temperature calcination to make it change color, which extremely hinders its energy efficient large-scale synthesis before commercial applications. Herein, we present a facile route to synthesize hackmanite by using organic sulfur source thiourea as a precursor in a mild and hydrogen-free process. The synthesized hackmanite exhibits UVC-specific response, fast response, high contrast coloring, and fast fading at room temperature.

Ultrafast mechanosynthesis of hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks with UV and NIR photoswitching of photochromic/photothermal behavior.

We present a facile and ultrafast mechanosynthesis of hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks |CNH‖HCO| with UV and NIR bidirectional photoswitching of photochromic/photothermal behavior. The reaction time is reduced to mere seconds, and the method is both high-yield and scalable.

Multi-component carbon-based composites containing high crystallinity NiBDC as high-performance electrodes for supercapacitors.

Herein, we propose a strategy combining sol-gel hydrothermal growth and annealing treatment for preparing multi-component carbon-based composites with high crystallinity of NiBDC (C-Ni/NiO/NiBDC). The C-Ni/NiO/NiBDC can be used by both positive and negative materials to build a supercapacitor that shows superior capacitance over the wide potential range of 0-1.8 V, resulting from the high crystallinity of NiBDC and synergistic effect of NiBDC, Ni and NiO, as well as their mutual intimate interfacial contact.

Construction of Ni-rich nanograss arrays for boosting alkaline water oxidation.

The rational design of high-efficiency electrocatalysts for application in water oxidation in alkaline media remains a great challenge. In this paper, Ni-rich nanograss-like Mo-doped NiS/NiS/VS arrays grown on nickel foam (denoted as Mo-NiVS@NF) have been successfully constructed through a hydro/solvothermal method. Interestingly, Mo-NiVS@NF exhibits superior catalytic OER performance, needing an overpotential of 217 mV to drive a current density of 10 mA cm, outperforming most previously reported NiS-based electrocatalysts.

Radio Frequency Resonator-Based Flexible Wireless Pressure Sensor with MWCNT-PDMS Bilayer Microstructure.

Flexible pressure sensors have been widely applied in wearable devices, e-skin, and the new generation of robots. However, most of the current sensors use connecting wires for energy supply and signal transmission, which presents an obstacle for application scenarios requiring long endurance and large movement, especially. Flexible sensors combined with wireless technology is a promising research field for realizing efficient state sensing in an active state.

Flexible Wireless Passive LC Pressure Sensor with Design Methodology and Cost-Effective Preparation.

Continuous monitoring of physical motion, which can be successfully achieved via a wireless flexible wearable electronic device, is essential for people to ensure the appropriate level of exercise. Currently, most of the flexible LC pressure sensors have low sensitivity because of the high Young's modulus of the dielectric properties (such as PDMS) and the inflexible polymer films (as the substrate of the sensors), which don't have excellent stretchability to conform to arbitrarily curved and moving surfaces such as joints. In the LC sensing system, the metal rings, as the traditional readout device, are difficult to meet the needs of the portable readout device for the integrated and planar readout antenna.

Ionothermal synthesis of a photochromic inorganic-organic complex for colorimetric and portable UV index indication and UVB detection.

Extended exposure to sunlight or artificial UV sources (particularly UVA and UVB) is a major cause of serious skin cancers and ocular diseases. A photochromic inorganic-organic complex was ionothermally synthesized a decomposition-reassembly strategy, generated from a low-cost deep-eutectic solvent and a 4,4'-bipyridine system. Benefiting from the intrinsic synergy of the hydrogen bonding and π-π stacking interactions, the complex exhibited insensitivity towards visible light, outstanding color contrast from colorless to purple, rapid response time up to seconds, excellent reversibility and high thermal stability.

Yolk-shell (Cu,Zn)FeO ferrite nano-microspheres with highly selective triethylamine gas-sensing properties.

Multicomponent spinel ferrites are essential to be used in high-performance gas-sensing materials. Herein, multinary (Cu,Zn)Fe2O4 spinel nano-microspheres with tunable internal structures, including solid, core-shell, and yolk-shell, were successfully synthesized by a simple self-templated solvothermal method combined with a subsequent annealing strategy. The internal structures of the (Cu,Zn)Fe2O4 nano-microspheres significantly rely on the heating rates of the precursors, which show promising selective response towards trimethylamine gas.

Synergetic Effect of Tetraethylammonium Bromide Addition on the Morphology Evolution and Enhanced Photoluminescence of Rare-Earth Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Controlled synthesis of rare-earth metal-organic frameworks (RE-MOFs) is of great significance to match their emerging multifunctional luminescence applications. Herein, we propose a green and general solvent-free synthetic strategy for the adjustment of morphology and dimension of various RE-MOFs (RE = Eu, Tb, Er, Dy, Y, Tm) by using a tetraethylammonium bromide-assisted thermal-heating method. These self-assembled RE-MOF materials possess controllable morphologies and hierarchical structures while retaining the structural topology of MIL-78, proving that the strategy is a feasible and effective way in opening up large-scale synthesis of RE-MOFs.

Eu/Tb functionalized Bi-based metal-organic frameworks toward tunable white-light emission and fluorescence sensing applications.

The rational design strategy to construct lanthanide ion functionalized metal organic frameworks (MOFs) has attracted tremendous attention as they are promising candidates for developing novel luminescence materials and optical sensors owing to their intense, long-lived and tunable luminescence performances. In this work, a series of Eu3+/Tb3+ singly doped or codoped bismuth-based MOFs were prepared under in situ facile solvothermal conditions using BiOBr nanoplates as bismuth resources. A red-green-blue-based trichromatic white-light emission can be finely achieved by modulating the doping ratio of Eu3+/Tb3+ in the blue-emitting Bi-MOF host material and such photoluminescence tuning can also be realized by controlling the excitation wavelength.

Production of p-xylene from biomass by catalytic fast pyrolysis using ZSM-5 catalysts with reduced pore openings.

Pores for thought: Chemical liquid deposition of silica onto ZSM-5 catalysts led to smaller pore openings that resulted in >90% selectivity for p-xylene over the other xylenes in the catalytic fast pyrolysis of furan and 2-methylfuran (see scheme). The p-xylene selectivity increased from 51% with gallium spray-dried ZSM-5 to 72% with a pore-mouth-modified catalyst in the pyrolysis of pine wood.

Needs and trends in rational synthesis of zeolitic materials.

Zeolites are an important class of materials which are widely used in industry as catalysts, adsorbents and ion-exchangers. Their superior properties are closely related to their unique porous framework structure, as well as composition and morphology. The ever-growing needs for zeolitic materials in applications inspire us to think of the rational synthesis of zeolites with desired structures and properties.

Hydrothermal synthesis of zeolites with three-dimensionally ordered mesoporous-imprinted structure.

Zeolites are microporous materials with pores and channels of molecular dimensions that find numerous applications in catalysis, separations, ion exchange, etc. However, whereas uniformity of micropore size is a most desirable and enabling characteristic for many of their uses, in certain cases, for example in reactions involving bulky molecules, it is a limitation. For this reason, synthesis of hierarchical zeolites with micro- and mesoporosity is of considerable interest as a way to control molecular traffic for improved catalytic and separation performance.

A structural resolution cryo-TEM study of the early stages of MFI growth.

Room-temperature aging of zeolite precursor silica sol was followed by SAXS and cryo-TEM. Cryo-TEM imaging of zeolite materials with structural resolution is demonstrated. The results suggest the formation of predominantly amorphous aggregates before MFI crystallization.