Recent publications
This study evaluated the CH4, CO, H2, NH3, and NO–sensing abilities of Al12C12 nanocages by using density functional theory. The geometry optimisation, cohesive energy, adsorption energy, and other electronic properties of Al12C12 nanocages and complexes after gas adsorption were calculated. The Al12C12 nanocage is highly symmetric and consists of eight hexagonal and six tetragonal rings. The Al12C12 nanocage had a cohesive energy of 4.6 eV and an energy gap of 1.593 eV, indicating that Al12C12 nanocages are stable and have semiconductor-like properties. The gas that the Al12C12 nanocage most effectively adsorbed was NH3. The NH3 complex not only had largest adsorption energy and shortest adsorption distance but also transferred the most charges and had the largest dipole moment. Mulliken charge transfer theory and molecular electrostatic potential analyses were used to evaluate charge transfer and distribution. The charge distribution of the Al12C12 nanocage differed depending on the type of gas, with NH3 resulting in the greatest number of charges being transferred. Density of states analysis was performed, and the results indicate that the complex was primarily composed of 3p orbitals of C and Al. The highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital were analysed. Interactions with various gases significantly reduced the energy gap values of pure nanocages, and those of the NH3 and NO complexes were significantly reduced because of changes in the 3p orbitals of the C and Al atoms. This study demonstrates that pure Al12C12 nanocages have potential as materials for the detection of NH3 and NO gas.
The wide applications of nanomaterials inevitably affect the aquatic environment. Due to the extensive usage of nano-copper carbon composite (NCCC) in different domains, such as water microbial control, textile industry, plastics processing industry, etc., it is necessary to investigate its effects on the aquatic environment. In this study, Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus were applied as standard test algae species for toxicological evaluation of the aquatic environment. NCCC had persistent inhibitory effects on the growth of Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus, via the release of Cu²⁺ and the excessive formation of ROS (reactive oxygen species). As the dosage of NCCC was up to 30 mg L⁻¹, microalgae growth was effectively suppressed during the 50-day exposure. The results of ROS levels and MDA (malondialdehyde) levels demonstrated that Scenedesmus was more sensitive to the toxicity of NCCC than Chlorella vulgaris. The fluorescein diacetate (FDA)-propidium iodide (PI) double staining method showed that the toxicity of 60 mg L⁻¹ NCCC only resulted in a small amount of algal cell death. In addition, with a comparable amount of Cu, NCCC was more toxic than CuSO4, but had lower risks in the aquatic environment regarding the accumulation of Cu. The results presented here supply toxicity data of NCCC on microalgae, resulting in a suitable realization of its ecological behavior and influences.
Stimulus‐responsive supramolecular fluorescent materials have attracted considerable attention due to their exceptional properties. In this study, a bis‐acylhydrazone based supramolecular gelator ZQ was successfully synthesized through a simple Schiff base reaction. Notably, ZQ could self‐assemble into the supramolecular gel ZQ‐G in a binary DMSO/H2O solution with the MGC of 1.5 wt% and Tgel of 98 °C. Moreover, ZQ‐G demonstrated remarkable selectivity and ultra‐sensitive sensing capabilities for Ni²⁺. The combining ratio of ZQ to Ni²⁺ was found to be 1:2, with a detection limit of 5.230 × 10⁻⁷ M and a binding constant of 6.66 × 10⁹ M−1/2. Additionally, a supramolecular fluorescent film derived from ZQ‐G was fabricated for the detection of Ni²⁺, demonstrating promising prospects for practical applications.
Information security is of predominant significance, while multiple logic information encryption techniques remain challenging. Here it is reported that upon coupling the unduplicable Jun Porcelain‐like birefringence and it enables polarized fluorescence with solid phase molecular self‐assembly(SPMSA), multiple logic information encryption can be achieved upon correctly applying UV light and polarizing angles. Since each birefringence is unique and can be transformed into a corresponding digital bar code, the multiple logic can be further encrypted with the assistance of a digital bar code bank, thus yielding the ultimate information security.
The structural isomerism of atomically precise nanoclusters provides a preeminent theoretical model to investigate the structure−property relationships. Herein, we synthesized three bowl‐like polyoxometalate (POM)‐encapsulated Ag nanoclusters (denoted as {Ag14(Sb3W30)2}‐1, {Ag14(Sb3W30)2}‐1 a, and {Ag14(Sb3W30)2}‐2) via a facile one‐pot solvothermal approach. Among them, for the first time, an unprecedented isomeric {Ag14}¹⁰⁺ nanoclusters are obtained in polyoxoanions {Ag14(Sb3W30)2}‐1 and {Ag14(Sb3W30)2}‐2, which should be probably induced by the different distribution of coordinating O atoms in two isomeric bowl‐like {Sb3W30} ligands. Clusters {Ag14(Sb3W30)2}‐1 and {Ag14(Sb3W30)2}‐2 exhibit distinct electronic structures and physicochemical properties due to the different geometric structures of the {Ag14}¹⁰⁺ nanoclusters, but both clusters can effectively catalyze the visible‐light‐driven hydrogen evolution with over 22,000 turnovers (TONs) after 6‐hour photocatalysis.
Herein, we explore a visible light‐enabled radical addition for the construction of N‐sulfonyl and N‐acyliminophosphorane using triarylphosphine and N‐sulfonyl and N‐acylaminopyridinium salts in the absence of transition metal, photocatalyst, oxidant or base. This method employs PAr3 as both the reaction catalyst to promote the generation of amidyl radical via N−N bond cleavage of N‐sulfonyl and N‐acylaminopyridinium salts, and materials for the preparation of N‐sulfonyl and N‐acyliminophosphorane products. This transformation exhibits abroad substrate scope and good functional group compatibility.
We present micromagnetic simulations of spin–orbit torque (SOT)-induced multistate magnetization switching in a ferromagnetic layer with perpendicular anisotropy, conducted without an external magnetic field. Four volatile states are excited by a constant current. Each volatile state, after the removal of the current and undergoing relaxation and stabilization, can transition into one of four stable nonvolatile states. Further analysis revealed that, by specifically controlling the amplitude and active/inactive intervals of a rectangular pulse, a volatile state can transition to a robust nonvolatile state, providing a viable approach for multilevel magnetic data storage. The resistance of each magnetic domain state is qualitatively calculated, and their differences make these multilevel states detectable for information reading.
The cultivation of Lingwu jujube traditionally employs clean tillage, leaving substantial gaps between rows and exposing almost 60% of the orchard to the elements. This method promotes rapid soil moisture evaporation, exacerbates soil erosion, and deteriorates the soil’s physicochemical properties. Consequently, there is a critical need for a more sustainable planting approach that optimally utilizes land resources. A pertinent question is whether varying densities of ryegrass intercropping can improve the uptake of nutrients and water by the jujube tree, the primary species in this ecosystem. In this context, a 2-year field experiment was conducted with three densities of perennial ryegrass intercropped with Lingwu jujube. The experiment assessed the impact on soil’s physical and chemical attributes beneath the jujube canopy, with a focus on correlating soil moisture, enzyme activity, and physical properties. The findings reveal that intercropping at a medium density most effectively enhanced the soil’s physical characteristics. Relative to monoculture, this approach increased the proportion of water-stable aggregates (0.5–0.25 mm) by 4.16%, decreased the soil’s fractal dimension by 0.46%, augmented the field water holding capacity by 14.78%, and significantly boosted soil enzyme activity. Furthermore, high-density ryegrass intercropping elevated the soil’s organic matter content by 36.09% and ameliorated both the pH and cation exchange capacity. Conversely, low-density intercropping raised soil moisture levels by 40.18% in the top 20 cm of the soil. Collectively, these results suggest that an optimal density of ryegrass in intercropping not only bolsters the moisture retention capabilities of soil in Lingwu jujube orchards but also enhances overall soil fertility. Therefore, the adoption of ryegrass and jujube tree intercropping is highly advisable in the ecologically sensitive and resource-constrained arid sandy regions of northern China, offering substantial practical benefits.
This paper is devoted to the proof of the long time existence results for the generalized Pochhammer–Chree equation on the irrational torus and the rational torus by using Birkhoff normal form technique, the so-called property of the nonlinearity and a careful analysis of the frequency.
Background: Rapeseed oil is the most widely consumed vegetable oil globally. However, the key aroma-active compounds of rapeseed oil and their changes during storage are unclear. In this study, the flavor of rapeseed oil during storage was characterized by physicochemical analysis, sensory evaluation, electronic nose (E-nose), and gas chromatography–olfactometry (GC–O).
Results: Peroxide value, acid value, and anisidine value gradually increased, while polyphenol content, tocopherol content, and sterol content showed a downward trend during storage. The E-nose combined with the linear discriminate analysis (LDA) method could discriminate rapeseed oil with different storage times. The sensory attributes changed significantly from distinctive pickled aroma to rancid, green, and fried aromas during storage. This work provides the aroma-active markers based on GC–O–MS for the quality evaluation of rapeseed oil during storage. A total of 136 volatile compounds were detected by GC–MS, and 16 odorants were identified by GC–O combined with aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA). Finally, seven aroma-active volatile compounds (3-butenyl isothiocyanate, 2(5H)-furanone, 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, (E)-2-octenal, (E,E)-2,4-heptadienal, (E,E)-2,4-decadienal, and 3-methyl-pentanoic acid) with the odor activity values (OAVs) greater than 1 were identified as potential key aroma volatiles that contributed significantly to the overall aroma of rapeseed oil.
Conclusion: This study provided a comprehensive method to monitor the flavor quality change of rapeseed oil during storage. The identified volatile compounds could be the markers to characterize the quality changes of rapeseed oil during storage.
Background and aims
Soil microbial communities, including fungi, play a pivotal role in the sustainability of forest ecosystems, yet the ecological processes driving their assembly with forest development remain elusive. This study aims to investigate the variations in the assembly mechanism of soil fungal communities with the development of Torreya grandis forests.
Method
Barcode sequencing was conducted to identify and characterize the fungal community in both bulk soil and the rhizosphere of T. grandis along a chronosequence spanning 900 years in a subtropical forest. The total carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus contents of plant tissues, as well as major abiotic properties of the bulk soils, were determined simultaneously.
Results
Our findings reveal that fungal community composition, rather than alpha diversity, changes with stand development, independent of shifts in plant and soil properties. As stands develop, saprotrophic fungi become enriched and fungal co-occurrence networks simplify, particularly in the bulk soil, indicating a soil environment with reduced competitive pressure for niches among fungal populations. Fungal community assembly in bulk soils is governed by dispersal limitation, whereas that of the rhizospheric assemblage transitions from dispersal limitation to homogeneous selection as stands develop. Notably, the genus Talaromyces, known for its biocontrol and plant-growth promotion capabilities, dominates the ecological process transition in the rhizosphere of T. grandis.
Conclusion
Our results propose a host-mediated deterministic selection of beneficial fungal populations in the rhizosphere as stands develop, supporting the health and ecological sustainability of ancient forest ecosystems in subtropical areas.
In recent years, despite significant advancements in particle image velocimetry (PIV) technology for multiphase flows, research focused on uncovering the mechanisms of flow and mixing in unconventional high‐viscosity two‐phase systems remains relatively scarce. To address this issue, we conduct angle‐resolved PIV experiments to investigate the mechanism of particle adhesion and its effect on high‐viscosity solid–liquid flow and mixing in a stirred tank reactor. The glycerol aqueous solution (92 wt.%) and the silica glass spheres are designed as the continuous phase and the discrete phase, respectively, to achieve the refractive index matching (RIM). Multi‐view experiments are subsequently conducted to reveal particle adhesion mechanisms and screen their effect on the spatial distribution of solids inside the stirred tank. This work provides valuable insights into the identification of particle adhesion mechanism in solid–liquid stirred tank reactors.
Iron‐nitrogen‐carbon (Fe−N−C) single‐atom catalyst is the most promising alternative to platinum catalyst for proton‐exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), however its high performance cannot be maintained for a long enough time in device operation. The construction of a new Fe coordination environment that is completely different from the square‐planar Fe−N4 configuration in classic Fe−N−C catalyst is expected to break the current stability limits of Pt‐free catalysts, which however remains unexplored. Here, we report, for the first time, the conversion of Fe−N−C catalyst to a new FeNxSey cluster catalyst, where the active Fe sites are three‐dimensionally (3D) co‐coordinated by N and Se atoms. Due to this unique Fe coordination configuration, the FeNxSey catalyst exhibits much better 4e⁻ ORR activity and selectivity than the state‐of‐the‐art Fe−N−C catalyst. Specifically, the yields of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and ⋅OH radicals on the FeNxSey catalyst are only one‐quarter and one‐third of that on the Fe−N−C counterpart, respectively. Therefore, the FeNxSey catalyst exhibits outstanding cyclic stability, losing only 10 mV in half‐wave potential E1/2 after 10,000 potential cycles, much smaller than that of the Fe−N−C catalyst (56 mV), representing the most stable Pt‐free catalysts ever reported for PEMFCs. More significantly, the 3D co‐coordination structure effectively inhibits the Fe demetallization of the FeNxSey catalyst in the presence of H2O2. As a result, the FeNxSey based PEMFC shows excellent durability, with the current density attenuation significantly lower than that of the Fe−N−C based device after accelerated durability testing. Our work provides guidance for the development of next‐generation Pt‐free catalysts for PEMFCs.
The first-principles calculation method is performed to explore the monolayer 2H-MoS2:Fe semiconductors with intrinsic ferromagnetism and strong ferromagnetic coupling by strain-modulation. In this study, we demonstrate that the biaxial strain can effectively regulate the distribution of local magnetic moment, magnetic coupling ground state types and strength. The studied results indicate that one FeMo dopant will bring 2 local magnetic moment, which is not affected by strains in range of − 6~6%. However, electronic configuration, occupation and magnetic moment distribution are closely related to strains. Moreover, smaller compressive strain can effectively strengthen ferromagnetic interactions between two FeMo substitutions, and the most energy gains of ferromagnetic coupling reach to 153.9 meV under − 2% strain. However, the ferromagnetic ground state translates into antiferromagnetic one as strain in the range of − 6~ − 2.5%. The changes in magnetic moment and magnetic interaction originate from the competition between crystal-filed splitting and spin splitting under different strains. The theoretical results presented here predict that modulating the biaxial strain could be a very significant avenue to obtain intrinsic ferromagnetic 2H-MoS2:Fe semiconductors.
The effect of strain on the electronic structures and magnetic properties of Fe doped monolayer 2H-MoS2 were studied by first-principles calculations. We found that electronic configuration, occupancy and magnetic moment distribution are closely related to strains. Smaller compressive strain can effectively strengthen FM interactions between two FeMo substitutions, and the most energy gains of FM coupling up to 153.9 meV under − 2% strain. However, the FM ground state translate into AFM one as strain in the range of − 6~− 2.5%. Our theoretical predictions highlight the important contribution of strain to electronic structures and magnetic properties, and present a valid avenue for the future design of high TC material in monolayer MoS2: Fe system.
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