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Achieving atomic precision in nanostructured materials is essential for comprehending formation mechanisms and elucidating structure-property relationships. Within the realm of nanoscience and technology, atomically precise ligand-protected noble metal nanoclusters (NCs) have emerged as a rapidly expanding area of interest. These clusters manifest quantum confinement-induced optoelectronic, photophysical, and chemical properties, along with remarkable catalytic capabilities. Among coinage metals, silver distinguishes itself for the fabrication of stable nanoclusters, primarily due to its cost-effectiveness compared to gold. This minireview provides an overview of recent advancements since 2020 in synthetic methodologies and ligand selections toward attaining NCs boasting a minimum of two free valence electrons. Additionally, it explores strategies for fine-tuning optical properties. The discussion extends to surface reactivity, elucidating how exposure to ligands, heat, and light induces transformations in size and structure. Of paramount significance are the applications of silver NCs in catalytic reactions for energy and chemical conversion, supplemented by in-depth mechanistic insights. Furthermore, the review delineates challenges and outlines future directions in the NC field, with an eye toward the design of new functional materials and prospective applications in diverse technologies, including optoelectronics, energy conversion, and fine chemical synthesis.
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The assembly of cluster units in a distinct manner can give rise to nanoclusters exhibiting unique geometrical structures and properties. Herein, we present a one-pot synthesis and structural characterization of a AuAg alloy cluster, [Au9Ag6(CîCR)10(DPPM)2Cl2](PPh4), denoted as Au9Ag6 (where HCîCR is 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenylacetylene, and DPPM is bis(diphenylphosphino)methane). Single-crystal X-ray diffraction data analysis reveals that Au9Ag6 features a distinctive Au7Ag6 bi-decahedral core, formed by a twisted assembly of two Au4Ag3 decahedra sharing one vertex. The Au4Ag3 building blocks are bridged by two gold atoms on opposite sides of the bi-decahedral core. The Au9Ag6 cluster is monoanionic and it is stabilized by two chloride, two DPPM and ten alkynyl ligands. This cluster represents the first instance of a cluster of clusters built upon decahedral units.
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To prevent obesity and diabetes environmental interventions such as eliminating food deserts, restricting proliferation of food swamps, and improving park access are essential. In the United States, however, studies that examine the food and park access relationship with obesity and diabetes using both global and local regression are lacking. To guide county, state, and federal policy in combating obesity and diabetes, there is a need for cross-scale analyses to identify that relationship at national and local levels. This study applied spatial regression and geographically weighted regression to the 3,108 counties in the contiguous United States. Global regression show food deserts exposure and density of fast-food restaurants have non-significant association with obesity and diabetes while park access has a significant inverse association with both diseases. Geographically weighted regression that takes into account spatial heterogeneity shows that, among southern states that show high prevalence of obesity and diabetes, Alabama and Mississippi stand out as having opportunity to improve park access. Results suggest food deserts exposure are positively associated with obesity and diabetes in counties close to Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee while density of fast-food restaurants show positive association with two diseases in counties of western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania. These findings will help policymakers and public health agencies in determining which geographic areas need to be prioritized when implementing public interventions such as promoting healthy food access, limiting unhealthy food options, and increasing park access.
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Diabetes Mellitus , Restaurantes , Humanos , Estados Unidos , Desertos Alimentares , Fast Foods , Obesidade/epidemiologia , Obesidade/prevenção & controle , Diabetes Mellitus/epidemiologia , Recreação , Características de ResidênciaRESUMO
Introduction: Efforts to understand visitors' participation in pro-environmental behaviors (PEB) are important for protected area management. Previous research in nature-based recreation settings suggests environmental attitudes may affect PEB, and that these relationships might be mediated by different dimensions of place attachment (place identity and place dependence). Methods: We used structural equation modeling to test the mediating effect of hikers' place attachment in the relationship between environmental attitudes and PEBs that occur within (on-site) and outside a protected area (off-site): Mt. Bukhan National Park in South Korea. Results: Results showed that cognitive (environmental knowledge) and affective (environmental sensitivity) components of environmental attitudes were significant predictors for place attachment. Place identity was linked to off-site PEB, while place dependence was a key antecedent for both off-site and on-site PEBs. Discussion: Our findings could help researchers and practitioners better understand how place attachment forms and how it can impact outdoor recreationists' behavior, ultimately helping to promote PEBs and facilitate sustainable management goals.
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Developing active and stable atomically dispersed catalysts is challenging because of weak non-specific interactions between catalytically active metal atoms and supports. Here we demonstrate a general method for synthesizing atomically dispersed catalysts via photochemical defect tuning for controlling oxygen-vacancy dynamics, which can induce specific metal-support interactions. The developed synthesis method offers metal-dynamically stabilized atomic catalysts, and it can be applied to reducible metal oxides, including TiO2, ZnO and CeO2, containing various catalytically active transition metals, including Pt, Ir and Cu. The optimized Pt-DSA/TiO2 shows unprecedentedly high photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity, producing 164 mmol g-1 h-1 with a turnover frequency of 1.27 s-1. Furthermore, it generates 42.2 mmol gsub-1 of hydrogen via a non-recyclable-plastic-photoreforming process, achieving a total conversion of 98%; this offers a promising solution for mitigating plastic waste and simultaneously producing valuable energy sources.
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Manipulating the atomic-level structure of the subshell of a nanocluster while preserving the inner and outer shell structure is challenging. We present the synthesis and molecular structure of an alkynyl-protected Au34Ag27 nanocluster, which exhibits distinct third shell atomic arrangement, electronic structure, and optical properties from those of the Au34Ag28 nanocluster.
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The catalytic activity and product selectivity of the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (eCO2RR) depend strongly on the local microenvironment of mass diffusion at the nanostructured catalyst and electrolyte interface. Achieving a molecular-level understanding of the electrocatalytic reaction requires the development of tunable metal-ligand interfacial structures with atomic precision, which is highly challenging. Here, the synthesis and molecular structure of a 25-atom silver nanocluster interfaced with an organic shell comprising 18 thiolate ligands are presented. The locally induced hydrophobicity by bulky alkyl functionality near the surface of the Ag25 cluster dramatically enhances the eCO2RR activity (CO Faradaic efficiency, FECO: 90.3%) with higher CO partial current density (jCO) in an H-cell compared to Ag25 cluster (FECO: 66.6%) with confined hydrophilicity, which modulates surface interactions with water and CO2. Remarkably, the hydrophobic Ag25 cluster exhibits jCO as high as -240 mA cm-2 with FECO >90% at -3.4 V cell potential in a gas-fed membrane electrode assembly device. Furthermore, this cluster demonstrates stable eCO2RR over 120 h. Operando surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy and theoretical simulations reveal how the ligands alter the neighboring water structure and *CO intermediates, impacting the intrinsic eCO2RR activity, which provides atomistic mechanistic insights into the crucial role of confined hydrophobicity.
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Unraveling the atomistic synergistic effects of nanoalloys on the electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (eCO2RR), especially in the presence of copper, is of paramount importance. However, this endeavor encounters significant challenges due to the lack of the crystallographically determined atomic-level structure of appropriate monometallic and bimetallic analogues. Herein, we report a one-pot synthesis and structure characterization of a AuCu nanoalloy cluster catalyst, [Au15Cu4(DPPM)6Cl4(C≡CR)1]2+ (denoted as Au15Cu4). Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that Au15Cu4 comprises two interpenetrating incomplete, centered icosahedra (Au9Cu2 and Au8Cu3) and is protected by six DPPM, four halide, and one alkynyl ligand. The Au15Cu4 cluster and its closest monometal structural analogue, [Au18(DPPM)6Br4]2+ (denoted as Au18), as model systems, enable the elucidation of the atomistic synergistic effects of Au and Cu on eCO2RR. The results reveal that Au15Cu4 is an excellent eCO2RR catalyst in a gas diffusion electrode-based membrane electrode assembly (MEA) cell, exhibiting a high CO Faradaic efficiency (FECO) of >90%, and this efficiency is substantially higher than that of the undoped Au18 (FECO: 60% at -3.75 V). Au15Cu4 exhibits an industrial-level CO partial current density of up to -413 mA/cm2 at -3.75 V with the gas CO2-fed MEA, which is 2-fold higher than that of Au18. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations demonstrate that the synergistic effects are induced by Cu doping, where the exposed pair of AuCu dual sites was suggested for launching the eCO2RR process. Besides, DFT simulations reveal that these special dual sites synergistically coordinate a moderate shift in the d-state, thus enhancing its overall catalytic performance.
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Objective: Less attention has been given to how green space can impact college students' moods. This study aimed to examine whether university students exposed to outdoor and indoor green space-natural and artificial would experience a change in moods compared to students not exposed to green space. Method: Seventy-nine participants were randomly assigned to four different conditions: office without greenery, office with posters of nature, office with green plants, and outside in a garden. The Brunel Mood Scale was used to assess participants' moods before and after spending time in their assigned setting. Results: Results indicated that all participants experienced a decline in tension and fatigue regardless of their assigned setting, yet the decline was less pronounced among participants in the office without greenery. Conclusion: Study findings highlight indoor green space is also conducive to positive moods. Thus, in addition to protecting outside greenery, universities may invest in indoor greenery (e.g., indoor plants, posters/artwork featuring nature) that can be placed in classrooms, libraries, dormitories, and other spaces frequented by students.
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ConspectusAtomically precise metal chalcogenide clusters (MCCs) are model molecular compounds of scientifically and technologically important semiconductor nanocrystals, which are known as quantum dots (QDs). The significantly high ambient stability of MCCs of particular sizes, as compared to that of slightly smaller or larger sizes, made them be termed "magic-sized clusters" (MSCs). In other words, MSCs with specific sizes between sizes of precursors (typically, metal-ligand complexes) and nanocrystals (typically, QDs) appear sequentially during the colloidal synthesis of nanocrystals, while the other cluster species decompose to precursor monomers or are consumed during the growth of the nanocrystals. Unlike nanocrystals with an ambiguous atomic-level structure and a substantial size distribution, MSCs possess atomically monodisperse size, composition, and distinct atomic arrangement. Chemical synthesis and exploration of properties of MSCs are of great significance since they help systematically understand the evolution of fundamental properties as well as build structure-activity relationships at distinct molecular levels. Furthermore, MSCs are anticipated to offer atomic-level insights into the growth mechanism of the semiconductor nanocrystals, which is highly desirable in the design of advanced materials with new functions. In this Account, we cover our recent efforts in the advancement of one of the most important stoichiometric CdSe MSCs, (CdSe)13. In particular, we present its molecular structure derived from a single crystal X-ray crystallographic study of the closest MSC, Cd14Se13. The crystal structure of MSC enables not only the understanding of the electronic structure and prediction of the potential sites for heteroatom dopants (e.g., Mn2+ and Co2+) but also the identification of favorable synthetic conditions for the selective synthesis of desired MSCs. Next, we focus on enhancing the photoluminescence quantum yield and stability of Mn2+ doped (CdSe)13 MSCs through their self-assembly, which is facilitated by the rigid diamines. In addition, we show how atomic-level synergistic effects and functional groups of the assemblies of alloy MSCs can be utilized for a highly enhanced catalytic CO2 fixation with epoxides. Benefiting from the intermediate stability, the MSCs are explored as single-source precursors to low-dimensional nanostructures, such as nanoribbons and nanoplatelets, through the controlled transformation. Distinct differences in the outcome of the solid-state and colloidal-state conversion of MSCs suggest the need for careful consideration of the phase and reactivity of MSCs as well as the type of dopant to achieve novel structured multicomponent semiconductors. Finally, we summarize the Account and provide future perspectives on the fundamental and applied scientific research of MSCs.
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While core-shell nanomaterials are highly desirable for realizing enhanced optical and catalytic properties, their synthesis with atomic-level control is challenging. Here, the synthesis and crystal structure of [Au12 Ag32 (SePh)30 ]4- , the first example of selenolated Au-Ag core-shell nanoclusters, comprising a gold icosahedron core trapped in a silver dodecahedron, which is protected by an Ag12 (SePh)30 shell, is presented. The gold core strongly modifies the overall electronic structure and induces synergistic effects, resulting in high enhancements in the stability and near-infrared-II photoluminescence. The Au12 Ag32 and its homometal analog Ag44 , show strong interactions with oxygen vacancies of TiO2 , facilitating the interfacial charge transfer for photocatalysis. Indeed, the Au12 Ag32 /TiO2 exhibits remarkable solar H2 production (6810 µmol g-1 h-1 ), which is ≈6.2 and ≈37.8 times higher than that of Ag44 /TiO2 and TiO2 , respectively. Good stability and recyclability with minimal catalytic activity loss are additional features of Au12 Ag32 /TiO2 . The experimental and computational results reveal that the Au12 Ag32 acts as an efficient cocatalyst by possessing a favorable electronic structure that aligns well with the TiO2 bands for the enhanced separation of photoinduced charge carriers due to the relatively negatively charged Au12 core. These atomistic insights will motivate uncovering of the structure-catalytic activity relationships of other nanoclusters.
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Single-atom nanozymes (SAzymes) are considered promising alternatives to natural enzymes. The catalytic performance of SAzymes featuring homogeneous, well-defined active structures can be enhanced through elucidating structure-activity relationship and tailoring physicochemical properties. However, manipulating enzymatic properties through structural variation is an underdeveloped approach. Herein, the synthesis of edge-rich Fe single-atom nanozymes (FeNC-edge) via an H2 O2 -mediated edge generation is reported. By controlling the number of edge sites, the peroxidase (POD)- and oxidase (OXD)-like performance is significantly enhanced. The activity enhancement results from the presence of abundant edges, which provide new anchoring sites to mononuclear Fe. Experimental results combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that FeN4 moieties in the edge sites display high electron density of Fe atoms and open N atoms. Finally, it is demonstrated that FeNC-edge nanozyme effectively inhibits tumor growth both in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that edge-tailoring is an efficient strategy for developing artificial enzymes as novel catalytic therapeutics.
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Corantes , Peroxidase , Catálise , Peroxidases , Relação Estrutura-AtividadeRESUMO
A growing body of literature has linked exposure to "green space" (vegetation-rich areas) and other forms of nature to mental health. Exposure-outcome associations at regional or national scales can overlook local associations that define how geographically distinct populations may experience nature differently. Large-scale results might downplay the importance of lived experiences and heterogeneity of human-nature relationships at local scales. The current study examines three types of vegetative cover and identifies how they are associated with perceived stress in South Korea during and before the COVID-19 pandemic. We find forest cover is consistently negatively associated with perceived stress at nationwide scales. In contrast, grass cover and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) show mixed associations with perceived stress at nationwide scales. Models accounting for spatial and temporal variability demonstrate that associations of forest cover, grass cover, and NDVI with perceived stress varies across the country and the study's four-year time horizon. Local governments may need divergent urban greening strategies for health promotion that respond to their specific sociodemographic and pre-existing environmental conditions.
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COVID-19 , Monitoramento Ambiental , Humanos , Monitoramento Ambiental/métodos , Pandemias , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Florestas , República da Coreia/epidemiologiaRESUMO
Understanding the origin of chirality in the nanostructured materials is essential for chiroptical and catalytic applications. Here we report a chiral AgCu superatomic cluster, [Ag22 Cu7 (C≡CR)16 (PPh3 )5 Cl6 ](PPh4 ), Ag22 Cu7 , protected by an achiral alkynyl ligand (HC≡CR: 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenylacetylene). Its crystal structure comprises a rare interpenetrating biicosahedral Ag17 Cu2 core, which is stabilized by four different types of motifs: one Cu(C≡CR)2 , four -C≡CR, two chlorides and one helical Ag5 Cu4 (C≡CR)10 (PPh3 )5 Cl4 . Structural analysis reveals that Ag22 Cu7 exhibits multiple chirality origins, including the metal core, the metal-ligand interface and the ligand layer. Furthermore, the circular dichroism spectra of R/S-Ag22 Cu7 are obtained by employing appropriate chiral molecules as optical enrichment agents. DFT calculations show that Ag22 Cu7 is an eight-electron superatom, confirm that the cluster is chirally active, and help to analyze the origins of the circular dichroism.
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While atomically monodisperse nanostructured materials are highly desirable to unravel the size- and structure-catalysis relationships, their controlled synthesis and the atomic-level structure determination pose challenges. Particularly, copper-containing atomically precise alloy nanoclusters are potential catalyst candidates for the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (eCO2RR) due to high abundance and tunable catalytic activity of copper. Herein, we report the synthesis and total structure of an alkynyl-protected 21-atom AgCu alloy nanocluster [Ag15Cu6(C≡CR)18(DPPE)2]-, denoted as Ag15Cu6 (HC≡CR: 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenylacetylene; DPPE: 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane). The single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that Ag15Cu6 consists of an Ag11Cu4 metal core exhibiting a body-centered cubic (bcc) structure, which is capped by 2 Cu atoms, 2 Ag2DPPE motifs, and 18 alkynyl ligands. Interestingly, the Ag15Cu6 cluster exhibits excellent catalytic activity for eCO2RR with a CO faradaic efficiency (FECO) of 91.3% at -0.81 V (vs the reversible hydrogen electrode, RHE), which is much higher than that (FECO: 48.5% at -0.89 V vs RHE) of Ag9Cu6 with bcc structure. Furthermore, Ag15Cu6 shows superior stability with no significant decay in the current density and FECO during a long-term operation of 145 h. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the de-ligated Ag15Cu6 cluster can expose more space at the pair of AgCu dual metals as the efficient active sites for CO formation.
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The photoinduced C4-selective C-H borylation of pyridines was achieved using electron donor-acceptor complexes derived from a Lewis base and N-amidopyridinium salts under external oxidant- and photocatalyst-free conditions. Notably, the nucleophilic character of phosphite-ligated boryl radicals enables addition of a radical to position C4 of pyridinium salts to afford C4-borylated heteroarenes that are otherwise difficult to obtain. This approach provides a versatile platform for the installation of both phosphite- and amine-coordinated boron groups on a series of pyridines under mild conditions, demonstrating excellent C4-positional selectivity for the pyridine scaffolds.
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The effects of environmental exposure on human health have been widely explored by scholars in health geography for decades. However, recent advances in geospatial technologies, especially the development of mobile approaches to collecting real-time and high-resolution individual data, have enabled sophisticated methods for assessing people's environmental exposure. This study proposes an individual environmental exposure assessment system (IEEAS) that integrates objective real-time monitoring devices and subjective sensing tools to provide a composite way for individual-based environmental exposure data collection. With field test data collected in Chicago and Beijing, we illustrate and discuss the advantages of the proposed IEEAS and the composite analysis that could be applied. Data collected with the proposed IEEAS yield relatively accurate measurements of individual exposure in a composite way, and offer new opportunities for developing more sophisticated ways to measure individual environmental exposure. With the capability to consider both the variations in environmental risks and human mobility in high spatial and temporal resolutions, the IEEAS also helps mitigate some uncertainties in environmental exposure assessment and thus enables a better understanding of the relationship between individual environmental exposure and health outcomes.
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Exposição Ambiental , Saúde Ambiental , Monitoramento Ambiental , Geografia , Humanos , IncertezaRESUMO
Pd is one of the most effective catalysts for the electrochemical reduction of CO2 to formate, a valuable liquid product, at low overpotential. However, the intrinsically high CO affinity of Pd makes the surface vulnerable to CO poisoning, resulting in rapid catalyst deactivation during CO2 electroreduction. Herein, we utilize the interaction between metals and metal-organic frameworks to synthesize atomically dispersed Au on tensile-strained Pd nanoparticles showing significantly improved formate production activity, selectivity, and stability with high CO tolerance. We found that the tensile strain stabilizes all reaction intermediates on the Pd surface, whereas the atomically dispersed Au selectively destabilizes CO* without affecting other adsorbates. As a result, the conventional COOH* versus CO* scaling relation is broken, and our catalyst exhibits 26- and 31-fold enhancement in partial current density and mass activity toward electrocatalytic formate production with over 99% faradaic efficiency, compared to Pd/C at -0.25 V versus RHE.
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A general strategy for visible-light-enabled site-selective trifluoromethylative pyridylation of unactivated alkenes has been developed using pyridines and triflic anhydride (Tf2 O). Intriguingly, the N-triflylpyridinium salts, generated in situ from pyridines and Tf2 O, serve as effective modular bifunctional reagents to install both CF3 and pyridyl groups to various olefins while controlling C4-selectivity in radical addition to the pyridine core. This synthetic route exhibited broad substrate scope under metal-free and mild photocatalytic conditions, granting efficient access to valuable C4-alkylated pyridines and quinolines without requiring prefunctionalization of the reaction site.
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The selective installation of phosphinoyl and carbamoyl moieties on the pyridine scaffold is an important transformation in synthetic and medicinal chemistry. By employing quinolinone as an efficient organic photocatalyst, we developed a catalytic system driven by visible light that forms phosphinoyl and carbamoyl radicals, which react with various heteroarenium derivatives under mild, transition-metal-free conditions. This straightforward and environmentally friendly synthetic method represents a new approach to site-divergent pyridine functionalization that offers considerable advantages in both simplicity and efficiency. Ambient temperature is sufficient for the formation of the reactive radicals, and the site-selectivity can be switched from C2 to C4 by changing the radical coupling sources. Under standard reaction conditions, phosphinoyl radicals give access to C4 products, while carbamoyl radicals selectively give C2 products. We found that the carbamoyl radical overcomes the intrinsic preference for forming the ortho-product by allowing the oxo functionality of the carbamoyl radical to electrostatically engage the nitrogen of the pyridinium substrate, which preferentially gives the ortho-product. The phosphinoyl radical cannot engage in the same interaction, because the phosphorus is too large. This novel synthetic route tolerates a broad range of substrates and provides a convenient and powerful synthetic tool for accessing the core structures of numerous privileged scaffolds.