Constructing responsive and adaptive materials by dynamic covalent bonds is an attractive strategy in material design. Here, we present a kind of dynamic covalent polyureas which can be prepared from the highly efficient polyaddition reaction of pyrazoles and diisocyanates at ambient temperature in the absence of a catalyst. Owing to multiphase structural design, poly(pyrazole-ureas) (PPzUs) show excellent mechanical properties and unique crystallization behavior. Besides, the crosslinked PPzUs can be successfully recycled upon heating (~130 °C) and the molecular-level blending of polyurea and polyurethane is realized. Theoretical studies prove that the reversibility of pyrazole-urea bonds (PzUBs) arises from the unique aromatic nature of pyrazole and the N-assisting intramolecular hydrogen transfer process. The PzUBs could further broaden the scope of dynamic covalent bonds and are very promising in the fields of dynamic materials.

This paper presents a new monitoring method for multimode processes based on subspace decomposition. In the proposed method, the influence of quality variables and multimode information are considered in multimode processes modeling, which is crucially important to ensure industrial production safety and quality stabilization. Process data are decomposed into the global common subspace and the local specific subspace and monitoring is performed in each subspace to simplify the model structure. Two experiments: penicillin fermentation processes and practical foods industrial production processes, have been used to demonstrate the excellent performance of the proposed method.

The analysis of low molecular weight (LMW) compounds is of great interest to detect small pharmaceutical drugs rapidly and sensitively, or to trace and understand metabolic pathways. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI MS) plays a central role in the analysis of high molecular weight (bio)molecules. However, its application for LMW compounds is restricted by spectral interferences in the low m/z region, which are produced by conventional organic matrices. Several strategies regarding sample preparation have been investigated to overcome this problem. A different rationale is centred on developing new matrices which not only meet the fundamental requirements of good absorption and high ionization efficiency, but are also vacuum stable and "MALDI silent", i. e., do not give matrix-related signals in the LMW area. This review gives an overview on the rational design strategies used to develop matrix systems for the analysis of LMW compounds, focusing on (i) the modification of well-known matrices, (ii) the search for high molecular weight matrices, (iii) the development of binary, hybrid and nanomaterial-based matrices, (iv) the advance of reactive matrices and (v) the progress made regarding matrices for negative or dual polarity mode.

An understanding of the factors limiting the open-circuit voltage (V oc) and related photon energy loss mechanisms is critical to increase the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of small-molecule organic solar cells (OSCs), especially those with near-infrared (NIR) absorbers. In this work, two NIR boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) molecules are characterized for application in planar (PHJ) and bulk (BHJ) heterojunction OSCs. When two H atoms are substituted by F atoms on the peripheral phenyl rings of the molecules, the molecular aggregation type in the thin film changes from the H-type to J-type. For PHJ devices, the nonradiative voltage loss of 0.35 V in the J-aggregated BODIPY is lower than that of 0.49 V in the H-aggregated device. In BHJ devices with a nonradiative voltage loss of 0.35 V, a PCE of 5.5% is achieved with an external quantum efficiency (EQE) maximum of 68% at 700 nm.

Measuring volatility in financial markets is a primary challenge in the theory and practice of risk management and is essential when developing investment strategies. Although the vast literature on the topic describes many different models, two nonparametric measurements have emerged and received wide use over the past decade: realized volatility and absolute return volatility. The former is strongly favored in the financial sector and the latter by econophysicists. We examine the memory and clustering features of these two methods and find that both enable strong predictions. We compare the two in detail and find that although realized volatility has a better short-term effect that allows predictions of near-future market behavior, absolute return volatility is easier to calculate and, as a risk indicator, has approximately the same sensitivity as realized volatility. Our detailed empirical analysis yields valuable guidelines for both researchers and market participants because it provides a significantly clearer comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of the two methods.

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Recently, N‐heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are explored as anchor groups to bind organic ligands to colloidal gold (i.e. gold nanoparticles, Au NPs), yet these efforts are confined to non‐conjugated ligands so far—that is, focused solely on exploiting the stability aspect. Using NHCs to link Au NPs and electronically active organic components, for example, conjugated polymers (CPs), will allow capitalizing on both the stability as well as the inherent conductivity of the NHC anchors. Here, we report three types of Br‐NHC‐Au‐X (X=Cl, Br) complexes, which, when used as starting points for Kumada polymerizations, yield regioregular poly(3‐hexylthiophenes)‐NHC‐Au (P3HTs‐NHC‐Au) with narrow molecular weight distributions. The corresponding NPs are obtained via direct reduction and show excellent thermal as well as redox stability. The NHC anchors enable electron delocalization over the gold/CP interface, resulting in an improved electrochromic response behavior in comparison with P3HT‐NHC‐Au.