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A bulk Poly(vinyl alcohol)/ZIF-8 (PVA/ZIF-8) porous composite with aligned porous structure was prepared by ice-templating method. The microstructure of PVA/ZIF-8 porous composites was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the composites had regular pore structure and ZIF-8 nanoparticles were evenly distributed on the skeleton of PVA. X-ray diffraction (XRD) test results showed that the crystalline structure of ZIF-8 was well preserved in the composites. The specific surface area of the composite was characterized by nitrogen adsorption/desorption test. The specific surface area of the composite was up to 1160 m2·gt1. PVA/ZIF-8 porous composites could also support a certain weight with almost no volume shrinkage. The carbon dioxide adsorption quantity of the composite was up to 11.3 cm3·gt1, proving that PVA/ZIF-8 porous composite has a good application prospect in the field of carbon dioxide adsorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability, geometric structure and electronic properties of a novel body-centered tetragonal carbon allotrope Bct C 8 are systematically investigated. Bct C 8 are formed by sp 3 -bonded carbon atoms and can be regarded as a compressed bundle of carbon nanotubes (CNT). The transition path from CNT to Bct C 8 has been simulated, indicating a possible approach to synthesize Bct C 8 . The X-Ray diffraction, phonon and Raman spectroscopies are presented as reference for experimental studies. Besides, Bct C 8 is a semiconductor with an indirect gap of 1.66 eV and will transform to semimetal when doping with boron and nitride atoms. Furthermore, considering its porous structural character, the lithium storage capability of Bct C 8 are also discussed, a directional fast lithium-ion mobility with a rather low 0.04 eV barrier is revealed. Therefore, the Bct C 8 , once synthesized experimentally, would have fruitful applications in carbon-based electronics and energy storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The joining of arc sprayed Al-Zn coating and AZ91D substrate was achieved by solid-liquid compound casting. The microstructure evolution and formation mechanism of the interface were investigated in this study. A scanning electron microscopy (SEM), an energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and an X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to analyze the microstructure of the Al-Zn/AZ91D interface, whose results showed that the interface could be divided into three different intermetallic compound layers, which confirmed that the bonding between arc sprayed Al-Zn coating and AZ91D substrate was metallurgical. Among the three layers, the layer adjacent to the AZ91D substrate was mainly composed of δ-Mg, Mg 17 (Al, Zn) 12 and a small amount of lamellar Φ-Mg 21 (Al, Zn) 17 intermetallic compounds. The layer which was close to the Al-Zn pseudo-alloy coating mainly consisted of δ-Al, Al 2 Mg 3 Zn 3 and a small amount of oxides. The intermediate layer was mainly comprised of τ-Mg 32 (Al, Zn) 49 intermetallic compound. Furthermore, the microhardness values of interface zone were much higher than that of AZ91D substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By assembling CoII ions and a combination of 5-(4-pyridyl)tetrazole (4-ptz) and formate ions, two distinct metal-organic frameworks, [Co3(4-ptz)5(HCOO)(H2O)2] and [Co3(4-ptz)4(dmf)2(HCOO)2 ] (dmf= N, N′-dimethylformamide), were synthesized. They were both characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and powder X-ray diffraction. Structural analyses revealed that by slightly modulating the coordination environment of the trinuclear cobalt cluster, two complexes were formed featuring unusual six-connected nets reminiscent of a pyrazole-type linear trinuclear cobalt cluster as compared with the classic eight-connected bcu topology. In addition, [Co3(4-ptz)5(HCOO)(H2O)2] interacted strongly with CO2, with an adsorption enthalpy of 29.2 kJ mol−1, and in a selectivity study, the uptake ratios of CO2/N2 (from a 15:85 mixture) and CO2/CH4 (50:50 mixture) were 77.6 and 37.7, respectively. Magnetic studies on both complexes revealed weak antiferromagnetic coupling between the CoII ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A facile and template-free solvothermal method was developed for the synthesis of microspheric g-C3N4/Bi2MoO6 photocatalysts. The obtained g-C3N4/Bi2MoO6 composites were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS). The XRD, FTIR, and HRTEM characterization results confirmed the formation of heterojunction structures at the interfaces of g-C3N4 and Bi2MoO6. The DRS results showed that the absorption edges of g-C3N4/Bi2MoO6 composites were red shifted in the visible light region with the increase of g-C3N4 content. The SEM and TEM images revealed that the composites exhibited a microsphere-like morphology and were composed of smaller nanoplates. The elemental mapping images revealed that g-C3N4 and Bi2MoO6 nanoflakes uniformly assembled together to form hierarchical flowers. Compared with pure g-C3N4 and Bi2MoO6, the as-prepared samples exhibited superior photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of dyes (Rhodamine B and Methyl blue) under visible light irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4/Bi2MoO6 composites could be attributed to their strong visible light absorption, the high migration efficiency of photo-induced carriers, and the interfacial electronic interaction. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) confirmed that the interface charge separation efficiency was greatly improved by coupling g-C3N4 with Bi2MoO6. It was also confirmed that the photo-degradation of dye molecules is mainly attributed to the oxidizing ability of the generated holes (h+) and partly to the oxidizing ability of ·O2− and ·OH radicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Ni/Ta bilayer is deposited on n-type 6H–SiC and then annealed at different temperatures to form an ohmic contact. The electrical properties are characterized by I–V curve measurement and the specific contact resistance is extracted by the transmission line method. The phase formation and microstructure of the Ni/Ta bilayer are studied after thermal annealing. The crystalline and microstructure properties are analyzed by using glance incident x-ray diffraction (GIXRD), Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. It is found that the transformation from the Schottky to the Ohmic occurs at 1050 °C and the GIXRD results show a distinct phase change from Ta2C to TaC at this temperature. A specific contact resistance of 6.5× 10−5 Ω·cm2 is obtained for sample Ni(80 nm)/Ta(20 nm)/6H–SiC after being annealed at 1050 °C. The formation of the TaC phase is regarded as the main reason for the excellent Ohmic properties of the Ni/Ta contacts to 6H–SiC. Raman and TEM data reveal that the graphite carbon is drastically consumed by the Ta element, which can improve the contact thermal stability. A schematic diagram is proposed to illustrate the microstructural changes of Ni/Ta/6H–SiC when annealed at different temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A structurally stable carbon allotrope with plentiful topological properties is predicted by means of first-principles calculations. This novel carbon allotrope possesses the simple space group C2/m, and contains simultaneously sp , sp 2 and sp 3 hybridized bonds in one structure, which is thus coined as carboneyane. The calculations on geometrical, vibrational, and electronic properties reveal that carboneyane, with good ductility and a much lower density 1.43 g/cm3, is a topological metal with a pair of nodal lines traversing the whole Brillouin zone, such that they can only be annihilated in a pair when symmetry is preserved. The symmetry and topological protections of the nodal lines as well as the associated surface states are discussed. By comparing its x-ray diffraction pattern with experimental results, we find that three peaks of carboneyane meet with the detonation soot. On account of the fluffy structure, carboneyane is shown to have potential applications in areas of storage, adsorption and electrode materials. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon carbide-reinforced graphite composites were prepared by hot-pressing mixtures of flake graphite and Si powder with various mass ratios under vacuum. The microstructure and phase compositions were characterized by SEM and XRD. Results indicated that SiC, resulting from the reaction between graphite and silicon, was uniformly dispersed in the graphite matrix. The bend strength of the composites increased from 112 to 206 MPa with increasing silicon content from 28.06 to 37.94 mass%. The oxidation resistance of the composites increased with their silicon content. The coefficient of friction of the composites remained at a low constant value of about 0.1 when the Si content was below 31.46 mass%. [New Carbon Materials 2015, 30(1): 92–96] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cerium(III)-containing polyoxotungstates (III)-(VII) are characterized by single crystal XRD, IR spectroscopy, XPS, ESI-MS, and electrochemical measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel hierarchical BiOI/Bi 2 MoO 6 composites are prepared by a facile precipitation–deposition method. The prepared photocatalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS). The resulting BiOI/Bi 2 MoO 6 composites exhibit excellent photocatalytic activity and stability towards the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and bisphenol A (BPA) in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. The optimal composite with 25% BiOI content shows the highest photocatalytic activity for MB degradation. The enhanced photocatalytic activity is mainly attributed to the formation of BiOI/Bi 2 MoO 6 heterojunction that can facilitate the separation and transfer of the photo-generated charge carriers. The roles of active species in the photocatalytic process are discussed by using different types of active species scavengers. Meanwhile, combined with the photoluminescence (PL) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), the degradation mechanism of the photocatalysts is proposed. It is hoped that the work could provide valuable information on the design of specific structure materials with more excellent properties and set the foundation for the further industrial application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A phytochemical investigation on the flowers of Sophora davidii resulted in the isolation of three unusual matrine–adenine hybrids, sophovicines A–C, together with biogenetically related analogue sophocarpine. Their structures and absolute configurations were determined by NMR analysis, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data. Since sophovicines represent the first example of matrine-adenine hybrids, a putative biosynthetic pathway toward sophovicines A–C was proposed. In addition, computational molecular modeling suggested that compounds sophovicines B and C may have potent activities against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). So, the inhibit effects of isolates on HCMV were evaluated. The results show that sophovicines B and C can inhibit HCMV replication effectively with IC 50 values of 7.12 and 7.32 μ M, respectively. Three unusual matrine–adenine hybrids were isolated from the flowers of Sophora davidii. Compounds 2 and 3 showed significant activity to inhibit HCMV replication. [Display omitted] • Three unusual matrine–adenine hybrids (1–3) were isolated from Sophora viciifolia. • A putative biosynthetic pathway toward 1–3 was proposed. • Compounds 2 and 3 showed significant activity to inhibit HCMV replication. • Brief structure-activity relationships were analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]