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A thermo-responsive MOF has been designed as a highly efficient Pickering emulsifier to stabilize the H2O2-in-oil emulsion. The resultant emulsion displayed good catalytic performance in epoxidation of olefins and easy catalyst-product separation.

Summary Well-defined discrete metal-organic cages have been widely explored in the field of supramolecular catalysis. However, these metal-organic cages have been rarely explored as heterogeneous catalysts for one-pot reactions. Herein, we present the first successful confinement self-assembly of (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxyl (TEMPO)-containing metal-organic cages within amino-functionalized mesoporous carbon to realize a new family of bifunctional heterogeneous catalyst (Cage@FDU-ED) for one-pot reactions. The orthogonal features of the isolated catalytically active sites within the obtained bifunctional catalyst lead to enhanced catalytic activities, selectivity, and recyclability with the overall transformation yielding up to 96% conversion. These results demonstrate that continuous chemical transformation with high efficiency is possible through careful design of catalytic sites in both metal-organic cages and mesoporous matrix isolatedly. This study paves a new way toward metal-organic cages as a promising platform for heterogeneous sequential reactions.

Supported ultrasmall noble metal nanocatalysts (UNMNs) are one of the most important classes of solid materials for heterogeneous catalysis. Herein, a simple and efficient supramolecular coordination cage (SCC) template-strategy has been developed to synthesize UNMNs with controllable size and size distribution. A series of SCCs, including M2L4, M4L2, M6L4 and M12L24, with well-defined sizes and shapes as well as different numbers of Pd ions were designed and synthesized as templates. Subsequently, the corresponding Pd nanocatalysts M2@CMC, M4@CMC, M6@CMC and M12@CMC were prepared by an impregnation–reduction method on carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) hydrogel supports. It was found that the employment of SCCs as templates could not only significantly reduce the aggregation tendency of Pd nanoparticles but also play an important role in regulating their size and size distribution. For example, the analysis of the catalyst size distribution indicated that the greater the number of Pd ions the cage possesses, the bigger the size of the catalyst. Moreover, with the decrease of the concentration of the template, the size of the Pd nanocatalyst also decreased obviously. Particularly, the resultant catalyst with a nano-Pd loading as high as 12.63% could still maintain a narrow size distribution. Furthermore, the as-prepared Pd nanocatalyst could serve as a highly efficient polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) degrader both in a stirred vessel and a continuous flow reactor because of its excellent catalytic efficiency in the reductive dehalogenation reaction under mild conditions. In a word, the SCC template-strategy employed in this study provides new guidelines for the preparation of size-controllable UNMNs on a variety of supports, along with high noble metal loading and catalytic activity.

We herein present a new family of crown ether-based covalent organic frameworks (CE-COFs) for the first time. The CE-COFs show excellent phase-transfer catalytic performance in various nucleophilic substitution reactions.

By introducing 9,10-distyrylanthrance (DSA) moiety as the core, we demonstrated the synthesis of a new family of rotaxane-branched dendrimers G1–G3 through the controllable divergent approach. Interestingly, the resultant G1–G3 displayed generation-dependent aggregation-induced emission (AIE) behaviors. Along with the increase of generation of rotaxane-branched dendrimers, a more obvious AIE effect was observed.

A new heterometallic macrocycle with photochromic properties was succesfully constructed through coordination-driven self-assembly, which features interesting photoswitchable Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) behaviour.

It has been a challenging topic and perpetual task to design and synthesize covalent macrocycles with characteristic self-assembling behaviors and excellent host-guest properties in supramolecular chemistry. Herein, we present a family of macrocyclic diphenylamine[n]arenes (DPA[n]s, n = 3–7) consisting of methyldiphenylamine units through a facile one-pot synthesis strategy. Unlike many other reported macrocyclic arenes, the resultant non-planar DPA[n]s feature intrinsic π-π stacking interactions, interesting self-assembling behaviors and ethene/ethyne capture properties. Specifically, strong multiple intermolecular edge-to-face aromatic interactions in DPA[3] have been systematically investigated both in solid and solution states. The intriguing findings on the intermolecular edge-to-face stacking interaction mode in the macrocycle would further highlight the importance of noncovalent π-π interaction in supramolecular self-assembly. This study will also shed light on the macrocyclic and supramolecular chemistry and, we expect, will provide a direction for design and synthesis of covalent macrocycles in this area., The design of covalent macrocycles which show characteristic self-assembly behaviour and host-guest properties is challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate the synthesis of diphenylamine[n]arenes through a one-pot synthesis and demonstrate the π-π pi stacking of the non-planar rings as well as ethane/ethyne host-guest interactions.

A Pd nano particle (NP)-loaded and nano metal-organic framework (NMOF)-based Pickering emulsifier is reported. The poly[2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)] (PDEAEMA) chains were grafted onto UiO-66-type NPs via a postsynthetic approach to generate PDEAEMA-g-UiO-66 NMOF (termed as MOF-3). The Pd NPs-loaded Pd@MOF-3 was synthesized via solution impregnation. Stable toluene-in-water Pickering emulsion was prepared with emulsifier Pd@MOF-3. Notably, the obtained Pd@MOF-3 is pH-responsive, and it is able to trigger the emulsification (at neutral condition) and demulsification (at acidic condition) of toluene droplets. Furthermore, it can be a highly active interfacial catalyst to effectively promote one-pot Knoevenagel condensation-hydrogenation cascade reaction at ambient conditions. The pH-responsive property allowed it to be in situ separated and recycled by demulsifying via simply tuning the pH value at the end of the reaction. This smart Pickering emulsion catalytic system is robust, and it can be recycled at least five times without loss of its catalytic activity.

A bifunctional robust and highly porous imidazolium-based ionic liquid decorated UiO-67 type MOF (UiO-67-IL, 1) was successfully constructed via solvothermal assembly of the imidazolium-based ligand and Zr(IV) ions. It exhibits a highly selective adsorption for CO2 over CH4 and N2. Furthermore, 1 herein can be used as a highly active heterogeneous catalyst for CO2 cycloaddition with epoxides under atmospheric pressure with or without cocatalyst TBAB (n-Bu4NBr).

Nattokinase is an important fibrinolytic enzyme with therapeutic applications for cardiovascular diseases. The full-length and mature nattokinase genes were cloned from Bacillus subtilis var. natto and expressed in pQE30 vector in Escherichia coli. The full-length gene expressed low nattokinase activity in the intracellular soluble and the medium fractions. The mature gene expressed low soluble nattokinase activity and large amount insoluble protein in inclusion bodies without enzyme activity. Large amount of refolding solutions (RSs) at different pH values were screening and RS-10 and RS-11 at pH 9 were selected to refold nattokinase inclusion bodies. The recombinant cells were lysed with 0.1mg/mL lysozyme and ultrasonic treatment. After centrifugation, the pellete was washed twice with 20mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.5) containing 1% Triton X-100 to purify the inclusion bodies. The inclusion bodies were dissolved in water at pH 12.0 and refolded with RS-10. The refolded proteins showed 42.8IU/mg and 79.3IU/mg fibrinolytic activity by the traditional dilution method (20-fold dilution into RS-10) and the directly mixing the protein solution with equal volume RS-10, respectively, compared to the 52.0IU/mg of total water-soluble proteins from B. subtilis var. natto. This work demonstrated that the inclusion body of recombinant nattokinase expressed in E. coli could be simply refolded to the natural enzyme activity level by directly mixing the protein solution with equal volume refolding solution.

A UiO-66-MOF-based membrane UiO-66-TEM (1) was prepared by the assembly of methacrylamide-decorated UiO-66-NH-Met with a thiol side chain-attached polysiloxane (PSI-SH) via a photoinduced thiol-ene click reaction. The obtained membrane 1 can be a platform to support Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) to generate an Au-MOF-polymer composite membrane Au@UiO-66-TEM (2). 1 and 2 can be used to build highly efficient continuous flow-through membrane reactors for Knoevenagel condensation of 4-nitrobenzaldehyde with malononitrile and 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) reduction at ambient temperature, respectively.

A bifunctional robust and highly porous imidazolium-based ionic liquid decorated UiO-67 type MOF (UiO-67-IL, 1) was successfully constructed via solvothermal assembly of the imidazolium-based ligand and Zr(IV) ions. It exhibits a highly selective adsorption for CO

The rapid development of China’s high-speed railway sector has attracted significant attention from the rest of the world, particularly those countries which are launching their ambitious high speed railway program to stimulate economic growth in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Experience of Chinese decision makers, engineers and contractors accumulated in the successful planning and implementation of the gigantic high speed rail networks is of great value to be examined to provide best practices to following projects, not just in China. This study identified and discussed four aspects of best practices in high-speed railway construction in China, i.e., workforce management, technological innovation, land acquisition, and environmental protection based on a comparative analysis of several newly built high-speed railway project cases.

The iron deposit in Cangshan Wangniangou is a hidden deposit of “Anshan Type” with rich resources. Its tectonic structure is in the eastern edge of the Luxi (Western Shandong) Block. The main ore-bearing strata is Shancaoyu Formation of new Archean Taishan Group. With its distribution controlled by Taibai syncline, the deposit is less affected by fractures. Its main mineralization period is new Archean-late Proterozoic era. Four metamorphisms had occurred during the period, three of which had great impact on iron enrichment. Regional folds control deposit formation, while faults’ impact on it is quite limited.

Electrooculography (EOG) signals can be used to control human-computer interface (HCI) systems, if properly classified. The ability to measure and process these signals may help HCI users to overcome many of the physical limitations and inconveniences in daily life. However, there are currently no effective multidirectional classification methods for monitoring eye movements. Here, we describe a classification method used in a wireless EOG-based HCI device for detecting eye movements in eight directions. This device includes wireless EOG signal acquisition components, wet electrodes and an EOG signal classification algorithm. The EOG classification algorithm is based on extracting features from the electrical signals corresponding to eight directions of eye movement (up, down, left, right, up-left, down-left, up-right, and down-right) and blinking. The recognition and processing of these eight different features were achieved in real-life conditions, demonstrating that this device can reliably measure the features of EOG signals. This system and its classification procedure provide an effective method for identifying eye movements. Additionally, it may be applied to study eye functions in real-life conditions in the near future.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are widely used as porous materials in the fields of adsorption and separation. However, their practical application is largely hindered by limitations to their processability. Herein, new UiO-66-Urea-based flexible membranes with MOF loadings of 50 (1), 60 (2), and 70 wt % (3) were designed and prepared by post-synthetic polymerization of UiO-66-NH2 nanoparticles and a polyurethane oligomer under mild conditions. The adsorption behavior of membrane 3 towards four hydrophilic dyes, namely, eosin Y (EY), rhodamine B (RB), malachite green (MG), and methylene blue (MB), in aqueous solution was studied in detail. It exhibits strong adsorption of EY and RB but weak adsorption of MG and MB in aqueous solution. Owing to the selective adsorption of these hydrophilic dyes, membrane 3 can remove EY and RB from aqueous solution and completely separate EY/MB, RB/MG, and RB/MB mixtures in aqueous solution. In addition, the membrane is uniformly textured, easily handled, and can be reused for dye adsorption and separation.

Gaming control becomes popular based on the development of human-computer interface (HCI). Among many kinds of physiological signals, Electrooculography (EOG) signal is more stable which can be used to control HCI systems based on eye movement detection and signal processing methods. However, there are currently no effective multi-directional classification methods for monitoring eye movements. In addition, many EOG-based HCI systems have been developed with traditional wet electrodes. Those traditional electrodes require conductive gel and skin preparation on some users. Here, we describe a signal processing method used in a wireless EOG-based HCI system with dry electrodes for detecting eye movements to have 9 options. This system includes wireless EOG signal acquisition device, dry electrodes and an EOG signal processing algorithm. The EOG signal processing algorithm is based on 9 options of eye movement and blink signals. The results demonstrated an application of baseball game control using the proposed wireless HCI system. This system provides an effective and convenient method for eye movement detection.