Cynasibirolide A, One New Humulanolide Sesquiterpene from Cynanchum acutum subsp. sibiricum.

Cynasibirolide A (1), one new humulanolide sesquiterpene, together with four known analogs, asteriscanolide (2), (1S,8S)-8-hydroxyhumula-2Z,6E,9E-trien-1,12-olide (3), (1S,7R)-8-oxohumula-2Z,9E-dien-1,12-olide (4), and (+)-6,7,9,10-tetrahydroasteriscunolide (5) were isolated from the roots and rhizomes of Cynanchum acutum subsp. sibiricum. Their structures and configurations were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, including 2D-NMR techniques, and the structure of 1 was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. All compounds were evaluated for their anti-complementary activity in vitro, and compound 3 exhibited anti-complement effect with CH50 value of 0.45 mM.

Graphene-Promoted Adhesion-Reduced Expansion of Discontinuous Palladium Nanowires upon Hydrogenation.

Monitoring conductivity changes of discontinuous palladium (Pd) nanostructures upon hydrogenation is becoming one of the most promising approaches toward hydrogen sensing. Development of sensors in this type has long been impeded due to strong ubiquitous interfacial adhesion which could distinctly restrict Pd expansion so as to hinder the closing of a nanogap. Herein, graphene underlayers were applied in the fabrication of nanogap-based hydrogen sensors to promote the lateral expansion of a Pd nanowire upon hydrogenation by reducing the adhesion between the metal and the substrate. In order to clarify details as well as mechanisms underlaid of graphene-enhanced Pd expansion, nanowire samples with serial lengths (6-48 µm) and gaps (0-260 nm in width) were controllably prepared on single-layer graphene (SLG), double-layer graphene (DLG), and quadruple-layer graphene (QLG, DLG × 2) via the combination of electron beam lithography (EBL) and electron beam deposition (EBD) technology. Response features and intrinsic analysis in physical sense of the graphene-based discontinuous Pd circuits upon hydrogen were established, in light of which the effects of underlayers on Pd expansion and on nanogap closing process were investigated. Such graphene-promoted expansion was demonstrated through the achievement of the closure of a large gap threshold (Gt) up to 260 nm as well as the systematical investigation of its influence on the sensing performance.

Synthesis and Preparation of (Acrylic Copolymer) Ternary System Peelable Sealing Decontamination Material.

Traditional methods that are used to deal with radioactive surface contamination, which are time-consuming and expensive. As one effective measure of radioactive material purification, strippable coating, which effectively coats the pollutant, and settles them on the surface of objects. However, there are some shortcomings in terms of film formation and peelability, such as a brittle coating and poor peelability. Therefore, in order to meet the treatment methods for radioactive contaminants needs, the strippable coating must have excellent sealing, corrosion resistance, weather resistance, low environmental pollution, short film formation time, and good mechanical properties; in addition, the spraying process should be simple, with moderate adhesion, and it should be capable of being quickly and completely peeled off. In this paper, a ternary system was prepared by pre-emulsion polymerization with butyl-acrylate, methyl methacrylate, acrylic acid as the reactive monomer, sodium dodecyl sulfate as the active agent, potassium persulfate as the initiator, and water as the dispersion medium. The Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR), ICP emission spectrometer, surface tension tester, and universal testing machine were used to characterize the structure and morphology of the composite materials. The results show that the decontaminant can quickly wet the powder particles and the surface pollutants. The sealing efficiency of Fe and Cu was over 90%. After the decontaminant was cured, it could be continuously formed on the surface of different substrates and be completely peeled off, as well as having excellent film formation and peelability.

Fabrication of Hydrophobic Ni Surface by Chemical Etching.

Hydrophobic surfaces were successfully fabricated on pure nickel substrates by a one-step chemical etching process with different acidic solutions. The static water contact angle (SCA) of the etched Ni surfaces reached higher than 125°, showing excellent hydrophobicity. The examination of surface chemical compositions implied that there were almost no polar moieties on the surface after chemical etching, except part of the surface was oxidized. After chemical etching, the nickel surfaces became much rough with packed terrace-/crater-/thorn-like clusters. According to the analysis of surface composition and morphology, the hydrophobicity was evidently attributed to the rough microstructures on the etched Ni surface. The best hydrophobicity on Ni surface was produced with the SCAs as high as 140.0° by optimizing the etching time and etchants. The results demonstrate that it is possible to construct hydrophobic surfaces on hydrophilic substrates by tailoring the surface microstructure using a simple chemical etching process without any further hydrophobic modifications by low surface energy materials.

[Vibrational spectrum and XPS contrastive studies on pyrochlore-type oxygen-rich Ce2Zr2O8 and oxygen-defective Nd2Zr2O7 phases].

Pyrochlore-type oxygen-rich Ce2Zr2O8 phase was prepared successfully by graphite reduction method. With the oxygen[U8]-defective Nd2Zr2O7 substituting for the oxidized precursor phase CeZrO3.5+Δ was carried out the structure comparative analysis with Ce2Zr2O8. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy (Raman), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to characterize the crystal structure of samples. The XRD experimental results show that Ce2Zr2O8 bulk phase contains the typical structure of pyrochlore, the superstructure peaks that characterize Ce/Zr cations ordering arrangement are very obvious, but the Zr-O ligands had also transformed from octahedrons of the co-top connection in the precursor to cubes of co-edge connection in the Ce2Zr2O8, and the formation of [ZrO8] ligand reduced greatlly the structural stability of Ce2Zr2O8 phase. Raman and IR results show that vibrational spectra bands of Ce2Zr2O8 phase increased significantly, meaning that the enriched oxygen ions result in a removal of the degeneracy peak for Ce2Zr2O8 phase, which confirms further the structural symmetry of Ce2Zr2O8 phase lower than its precursor. XPS results show that Ce (IV) characteristic peak (916.3 eV) in the Ce2Zr2O8 phase surface is very obvious. No the appearance of Ce (III) peak (885 eV) suggests that Ce3+ from the precursor has been completely oxidized into Ce4+ in the Ce2Zr2O8 phase; the Zr(3d) binding energy is close to fluorite phase with Zr4+, which confirms that [ZrO8] ligand in the Ce2Zr2O8 surface is consistent with the bulk phase. The increasing low binding energy of O(1s) shows that oxygen species in the Ce2Zr2O8 bulk phase are between lattice oxygen and adsorbed oxygen, the presence of high oxygen peak suggests that the surface of Ce2Zr2O8 contains adsorbed oxygen, and the bonding strength between adsorption oxygen and Ce2Zr2O8 bulk phase is between CeO2 and Nd2Zr2O7.