Advanced BIFs with Co, B, N, and S for Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction and Oxygen Evolution Reactions.

In this work, a new alkaline-stable boron imidazolate framework (BIF-90) was rationally designed and successfully synthesized by solvothermal reaction. Due to its potential electrocatalytic active sites (Co, B, N, and S) and chemical stabilities, BIF-90 was explored as a bifunctional electrocatalyst toward electrochemical oxygen reactions, namely, oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). This work will open new avenues toward the design of stable, cheap, and more active BIFs as bifunctional catalysts.

A Novel Indole Derivative with Superior Photophysical Performance for Fluorescent Probe, pH-Sensing, and Logic Gates.

An indole-related molecules have been considered as the potential fluorescent probes for biological and electrochemical sensing. However, most of the indole probes have been usually used in a single detection mode. Indolium probes that enable accurate detection in complex environments are rarely reported. Here, four novel indole derivatives including the phenyl group substituted with different functional moieties were designed on the basis of the donor-π-acceptor (D-π-A) concept. These derivatives exhibit positive solvatochromism owing to their varied molecular conformations upon contacting to various solvents and the different HOMO-LUMO gaps caused by the difference in electronic push-pull capability of the substituents. Their solid-state fluorescence emissions and multiple chromisms are observed due to the inherent twisted geometries and aggregation modes. In addition, these derivatives show dramatic color and fluorescence responses due to the protonation of the nitrogen and oxygen containing groups, and thus novel colorimetric pH sensors, fluorescent papers and logic gates have been designed.

Active Sites In Situ Implanted Hybrid Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks for a Water Oxidation Catalyst.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been a focus of research because of their unique porous structure, but they are usually not directly for electrocatalysis. Herein, we prepared a special class of Fe/Zn/Mo-based trimetallic hybrid zeolitic imidazolate frameworks by in situ solvothermal synthesis that have the potential to act directly as highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalysts. This work provides a foundation for the preparation of multimetal MOFs and expands the investigation of electrocatalysts.

Ultrathin Ni(ii)-based coordination polymer nanosheets as a co-catalyst for promoting photocatalytic H2-production.

Ni(ii) coordination polymer nanosheets (Ni-CPNS) were prepared via a top-down liquid ultrasonication exfoliation method. For the first time, Ni-CPNS was used as a co-catalyst (Ni-CPNS@CdS) via a mechanical grinding strategy. The optimized Ni-CPNS@CdS catalyst reached a super high visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen production activity of 10 210 µmol h-1 g-1, exceeding that of bare CdS nanoparticles by 1480%. Our work can open new avenues towards the design of stable and cheap CPNS co-catalysts to replace expensive and rare noble metals for photocatalysis processes.