Construction of CuO/Cu-nanoflowers loaded on chitosan-derived porous carbon for high energy density supercapacitors.

Copper oxide (CuO) and copper (Cu) have been viewed as the prospective pseudocapacitive electrode materials for supercapacitors. Nevertheless, the poor electron transfer capacity, loading amount, and cycling stability limit their wide applications, which can be addressed by developing the CuO based heterojunction on conductive carbons. Here, a CuO/Cu@C comprising CuO/Cu nanoflowers and chitosan-derived N-doped porous carbon was compounded by simple mechanical mixing, freeze-drying, and carbonization. The composite heated at 700 °C exhibited a high specific capacitance of 2479F/g at 0.5 A/g and excellent cycling stability with capacitance retention of 82.43 % after 10 000 charge-discharge cycles. In addition, the asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC), i.e., CuO/Cu@C-700//AC assembled by CuO/Cu@C (as a positive electrode) and activated carbon (AC, as a negative electrode) displayed a great energy density of 76.87 W h kg-1 at 374.5 W kg-1 and kept as high as 25.83 W h kg-1 even at 14998 W kg-1. Our work provides a new pathway to preparing transition metal oxide-based electrode materials with distinguished electrochemical performances.

B,N-Codoped Porous C with Controllable N Species as an Electrode Material for Supercapacitors.

Manufacturing heteroatom-doped porous C with controllable N species is an important issue for supercapacitors. Herein, we report a low-cost and simplified strategy for synthesizing B,N-codoped porous C (BNPC) by a freeze-drying chitosan-boric acid aerogel beads and subsequent carbonization treatment. The BNPC samples were studied using various characterization technologies. The introduction of boric acid to chitosan successfully induced the formation of B,N-codoped C with a well-developed 3D interconnected porous structure. The B doping had a significant impact on the distribution of N species in the samples. Moreover, the good wettability of the sample resulting from B doping is favorable for electrolyte diffusion and ion transport. As a consequence, the optimal BNPC sample showed an excellent specific capacitance of 240 F g-1 at 0.5 A g-1 and an outstanding capacitance retention of 95.1% after 10000 cycles at 5 A g-1. An assembled symmetrical supercapacitor displayed an energy density of 11.4 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 250 W kg-1. The proposed work provides a simple and effective method to obtain B,N-codoped C-based materials with high electrochemical performance.

Cytotoxic diterpenoids as potential anticancer agents from the twigs of Casearia kurzii.

A search for bioactive natural products as anticancer lead compounds has led to the isolation of five new clerodane diterpenoids (1-5) from the twigs of Casearia kurzii. Their structures were elucidated by extensive analysis of their NMR, IR, and HRESIMS data, and the absolute configurations were determined by experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data analysis. The isolates were biologically evaluated and showed cytotoxic activities toward human lung cancer cells (A549), human cervical cancer cells (HeLa), and human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2). The most active compound (5) with an IC50 value of 5.3 µM against HeLa cells, was found to induce apoptosis and arrest the HeLa cell cycle at G0/G1 stage to exert cytotoxic effects.

Voltammetric sensing performances of a carbon ionic liquid electrode modified with black phosphorene and hemin.

A black phosphorene (BPE) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) hybrid was used for the immobilization of hemin on a carbon ionic liquid electrode (CILE). BPE inside the PEDOT:PSS film was stable without adverse effects of water and oxygen. The hemin-modified electrode facilitates electrochemical communication with a couple of well-shaped and enhanced redox waves. Therefore BPE exhibits an accelerating function to the electron movement. This sensor exhibits excellent electrocatalytic effects on the reduction of various substrates including trichloroacetic acid (TCA), nitrite and H2O2. As for TCA, the reduction current at -0.36 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) increases linearly in the concentration range from 2.0 to 180 mmol·L-1 with a detection limit of 0.67 mmol·L-1 (at 3σ). As for nitrite, the reduction current at -0.59 Vis linear in the 1.0 to 10.5 mmol·L-1 concentration range, and the detection limit is 0.33 mmol·L-1 (at 3σ). As for H2O2, the reduction current at -0.033 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) is linear in the concentration range from 4.0 to 35.0 mmol·L-1 and the detection limit is 1.3 mmol·L-1 (at 3σ). The real sample was analyzed with satisfactory results, which indicated that BPE had potential applications in the field of electrochemical biosensor. Graphical abstract Photos of (a) black phosphorene (BPE) solution, (b) poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), (c) BPE-PEDOT:PSS (1:5) dispersion, and the fabrication procedure of this electrochemical sensor. It was applied to the determination of trichloroacetic acid, nitrite and hydrogen peroxide.

NO inhibitory phytochemicals as potential anti-inflammatory agents from the twigs of Trigonostemon heterophyllus.

Studies on the relationship of nitric oxide (NO) and inflammation have revealed that compounds with NO inhibitory effects are potentially useful for inflammation and related inflammatory disorders. A phytochemical investigation to obtain new NO inhibitors resulted in the isolation of two new cleistanthane diterpenoids (1 and 2) and 11 known terpenoids (3-13) from Trigonostemon heterophyllus. The structures of these terpenoids were established by analysis of their NMR, MS, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data. Compounds 1 and 2 possess rare 3,4-seco-cleistanthane diterpenoid skeletons. All of the isolates were evaluated biologically for their NO inhibitory effects in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced murine microglial BV-2 cells and compounds 1, 6, and 8-10 showed strong NO inhibitory effects with IC50 values less than 40 µM. Using Western blotting experiments and molecular docking, the possible mechanism of NO inhibition was investigated.

Bioactive Diterpenoids from the Stems of Euphorbia royleana.

Two ingenane- (1 and 2), two ent-atisane- (3 and 4), two ent-kaurane- (5 and 6), two ent-abietane- (7 and 8), and one ent-isopimarane-type (9) diterpenoid and 12 known analogues have been isolated from the methanolic extract of the stems of Euphorbia royleana. Their structures, including absolute configurations, were determined by extensive spectroscopic methods and ECD data analysis. The nitric oxide inhibitory activities of those diterpenoids were examined biologically in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated BV-2 cells, with compounds 1, 2, 5-7, 10, and 12 having IC50 values lower than 40 µM. Molecular docking was used to investigated the possible mechanism of compounds 1, 2, 5-7, 10, and 12.

Nitric oxide inhibitory limonoids as potential anti-neuroinflammatory agents from Swietenia mahagoni.

Recent studies have revealed that there is a close relationship between neuroinflammation and Alzheimer's disease (AD) and compounds with anti-neuroinflammatory effects are potentially useful for the treatment of AD. A phytochemical investigation to obtain new neuroinflammatory inhibitors resulted in the isolation of four new and three known limonoids from Swietenia mahagoni. The structures of these limonoids were established by NMR, MS, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data analysis. Compounds 1-3 feature complicated polycyclic caged structures of limonoid orthoester and represent new examples of phragmalin-type limonoids. All of the isolates showed anti-neuroinflammatory activities by inhibiting nitric oxide (NO) release in LPS-induced murine microglial BV-2 cells with compounds 1 and 3-6 having IC50 values of 26.8, 26.1, 26.0, 37.1, and 16.5 µM, respectively. The possible mechanism of NO inhibition of some bioactive compounds was also investigated using molecular docking, which revealed the interactions of bioactive compounds with the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein.

Mechanisms of the Water-Gas Shift Reaction Catalyzed by Ruthenium Carbonyl Complexes.

Density functional theory (DFT) is employed to study the water-gas shift (WGS) reaction in the gas phase for two complexes, Ru3(CO)12 and Ru(CO)5. Here we report four mechanisms of ruthenium carbonyl complexes catalyzed for WGS reaction. The energetic span model is applied to evaluate efficiency of the four catalytic pathways. Our results indicate that mechanism C and D show a good catalytic behavior, which is in agreement with results from the literature. The mechanism C and D not only include the important intermediate Ru3(CO)11H(-) but also exclude the energy-demanding OH(-) desorption and revise an unfavorable factor of the previous mechanism. Two complexes along mechanisms B have the highest turnover frequency (TOF) values. The trinuclear carbonyl complexes-Ru3(CO)12 is preferred over mononuclear carbonyl Ru(CO)5 by comparing TOF due to the fact that metal-metal cooperativity can enhance activity to the WGS reaction. In this work, the nature of interaction between transition states and intermediates is also analyzed by the detailed electronic densities of states, and we further clarify high catalytic activity of ruthenium carbonyl complexes as well. Our conclusions provide a guide to design catalysts for the WGS reaction.