Four stoichiometric W-B intermetallic phases, including W2B, WB, WB2 and WB3, are synthesized, and their hydrogen-evolution electrocatalytic properties and electronic structures are investigated comparatively. The electrocatalytic activity for the hydrogen...
Hydrophobic association hydrogels (HA gels) have been proven to be one of the most popular research interests in physically crosslinking hydrogels. Meanwhile, the association mode of hydrophobic monomers and the structure of the hydrophobic microdomain is crucial to their mechanical properties. In this study, we designed high‐performance complex HA gels by novel complex micelles and acrylamide without small‐molecule surfactants. The complex micelles were prepared by a simple complex of two polymerizable amphiphilic dodecanol polyoxyethylene (n) acrylate monomers (alcohol ethoxylate (n)‐acryloyl chloride, AEO‐3‐AC, AEO‐23‐AC). The coordination effect between these amphiphilic monomers with a large hydrophilic difference greatly improved the strength of the gels. The mechanical properties, including the breaking elongation ratio and tensile strength, could be easily adjusted through the variation of the complex ratio in a relatively broad range. The mechanical strength of the resulting hydrogels with composite micelles were improved almost 200% over those of the hydrogels having either AEO‐3–AC or AEO‐23–AC. Dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy testing revealed the sizes and morphologies of the complex hydrogels and their composite micelles. The discovery of the coordination provides a new route for preparing high‐performance hydrogels. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 46400.
This study tests the effect of using the combination of graphene oxide (GO) with different valence cations as a heterogeneous nucleant on promoting catalase crystallization. By using GO and three types of salts with different valences, NaCl, MgCl2, and YCl3, the addition of GO with all three salts resulted in an increase in the percentage of crystal drops and a decrease in induction time. The experimental results further verified that there is a synergistic effect of GO and cations as the percentage of crystal drops was higher when GO with cations was added compared to control experiments where only GO or cations presented. It was also observed that the improvement in crystallization became more significant when cations with higher valence were utilized. It is believed that the enhancement in crystallization was due to the synergistic effect arising from the cation-π and electrostatic interactions between GO sheets and cations. These interactions subsequently contributed to the positively charged salt, which adsorbed and connected both negatively charged catalase molecules and the GO surfaces, increasing the local protein concentration and leading to crystallization. In addition, we compared LaCl3 and CeCl3 with YCl3 to verify the effect of the same valence salt on catalase crystallization and found that the higher the charge density, the more pronounced the promotion effect. This study provides a new protein crystallization methodology by exploiting GO with cations as heterogeneous nucleant to promote catalase crystallization and brings about a new model for investigating protein crystallization mechanisms.
N-doping multilocular carbon spheres are beneficial to improving the electrical property due to their unique pore structure and elemental composition; nevertheless, there is a great challenge to fabricate this structure in a facile way. In this work, an N-doping yolk–shell carbon nanosphere with a “carbon bridges” structure was prepared by domain-limited carbonization of RF@SiO2 (RF = resorcinol-formaldehyde resin) with ethylenediamine (EDA) as the nitrogen precursor. The structure of the “carbon bridges” and the carbon shell’s thickness can be adjusted by controlling the thickness of the silica layer, resulting in a change in morphology (from dense nanospheres to yolk–shell nanospheres). The optimized yolk–shell carbon nanospheres (C@C-2 nanospheres) exhibited high N-doping, an abundant micro-mesoporous structure, and an optimum “carbon bridges” structure, contributing to a high-rate capability in a supercapacitor, which was reflected in the energy storage dynamics. Herein, C@C-2 nanospheres, as an electrode material for supercapacitors, presented a reversible specific capacitance of 373.3 F g–1 at 0.5 A g–1 in 2 M KOH and retained a well-advanced capacitance retention capability (95.8%) at 4 A g–1 for more than 10,000 cycles. This work sheds light on an avenue to design high-performance porous carbons for efficient energy storage.
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