Double Epitaxy as a Paradigm for Templated Growth of Highly Ordered Three-Dimensional Mesophase Crystals.

Molecular templating and self-assembly are fundamental mechanisms for controlling the morphology of biominerals, while in synthetic two-dimensional layered materials similar levels of control over materials structure can be achieved through the epitaxial relationship with the substrate. In this study these two concepts are combined to provide an approach for the nucleation and growth of three-dimensional ordered mesophases on solid surfaces. A combined experimental and theoretical study revealed how atomic ordering of the substrate controls the structure of surfactant template and the orientation and morphology of the epitaxially grown inorganic material. This dual epitaxial relationship between the substrate, surfactant template, and inorganic mesophase gives rise to a highly ordered porous mesophase with a well-defined cubic lattice of pores. The level of control over the material's three-dimensional architecture achieved in this one-step synthesis is reminiscent of that in biomineralization.

Catalytic templating approaches for three-dimensional hollow carbon/graphene oxide nano-architectures.

We report a catalytic templating method to synthesize well-controlled three-dimensional carbon nano-architectures. Depending on graphene oxide content, the morphology can be systematically tuned from layered composites to 3D hollow structures to microporous materials. The composites with high surface area and high porosity induce a significant enhancement to its capacitance at high current density.

Multiband optical absorption controlled by lattice strain in thin-film LaCrO3.

Experimental measurements and ab initio modeling of the optical transitions in strained G-type antiferromagnetic LaCrO(3) resolve two decades of debate regarding the magnitude of the band gap and the character of the optical absorption spectrum in the visible-to-ultraviolet (up to ∼5 eV) range in this material. Using time-dependent density functional theory and accounting for thermal disorder effects, we demonstrate that the four most prominent low-energy absorption features are due to intra-Cr t(2g)-e(g) (2.7, 3.6 eV), inter-Cr t(2g)-t(2g) (4.4 eV), and interion O 2p-Cr 3d (from ∼5 eV) transitions and show that the excitation energies of the latter type can be strongly affected by the lattice strain.

A soft approach to encapsulate sulfur: polyaniline nanotubes for lithium-sulfur batteries with long cycle life.

A novel vulcanized polyaniline nanotube/sulfur composite was prepared successfully via an in situ vulcanization process by heating a mixture of polyaniline nanotube and sulfur at 280 °C. The electrode could retain a discharge capacity of 837 mAh g(-1) after 100 cycles at a 0.1 C rate and manifested 76% capacity retention up to 500 cycles at a 1 C rate.

Gas-induced solid state transformation of an organic lattice: from nonporous to nanoporous.

A well-known organic host, tris-o-phenylenedioxycyclotriphosphazene, exists in two polymorphic guest-free forms: the thermodynamic nonporous high-density phase and the kinetic nanoporous low-density phase. Simple pressurization of the high density phase with CO(2) brings a solid-state transformation to the low density phase, resulting in significant expansion of the crystal volume by 23%.

Synthesis, characterization, and application of metal organic framework nanostructures.

The considerable number of important physical properties, including optical, electronic, and magnetic properties, of Prussian blue (PB) analogues have attracted fundamental and industrial interest. Nevertheless, the gas sorption properties of PB coordination compounds were only investigated very recently. In this work, we report the synthesis and gas sorption properties of PB nanocomposites with different size and shape obtained by using poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP), chitosan, and dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT) as stabilizers and structure directing agents. All three porous nanocrystals show high and selective CO(2) adsorption over CH(4) or N(2). No distinct relationship was found between the size (or shape) of the nanosorbents and their gas uptake capacities. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the use of PB nanocomposites for CO(2) capture applications.

Synthesis and properties of nano zeolitic imidazolate frameworks.

Nanosized zeolitic imidazolate frameworks [nZIF-8] with excellent chemical and thermal stability have been synthesized at room temperature by simple mixing of 2-methylimidazole and zinc nitrate hexahydrate in methanol/1% high molecular weight poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) solution for 24 h.

Conversion of nonporous helical cadmium organic framework to a porous form.

Two novel cadmium-organic frameworks containing achiral helical nanotubular channels, [Cd(HImDC)(S)](n) (S = Im(1) and Py(2)), have been synthesized and characterized using single crystal X-ray diffraction, in which 1 converts to 2 upon refluxing 1 in pyridine solution with noticeable porosity and hydrogen uptake at medium pressure.

Molecular self-assembly inhibition leads to basket-shaped cyclophane formation with chiral dynamics.

Planar perylene derivatives form macrocyclic dimers and concatenated dimer-dimer rings under the action of molecular self-assembly. If this underpinning principle is true, highly twisted perylene derivatives should be more frustrated toward formation of multimeric cyclic compounds such as macrocyclic dimers and concatenated dimer-dimers because of perturbation resulting from intermolecular pi-pi stacking. Indeed, 1,6,7,12- tetraphenoxy-substituted perylene is highly twisted and undergoes unimolecular cyclization rather than bimolecular or multimolecular cyclization. The resulting monocyclic monomer exhibits interesting conformation switching from one chiral structure (left-handedness) to another chiral structure (right-handedness) at room temperature. NMR studies of conformational dynamics reveal that such configuration change between the two enantiomers can be frozen at low temperature (-45 degrees C). An activation enthalpy barrier of 13.4 +/- 0.5 kcal.mol-1 for twisting the perylene plane in order to convert from one enantiomer to the other has been found.

Cyclization and catenation directed by molecular self-assembly.

We report here that molecular self-assembly can effectively direct and enhance specific reaction pathways. Using perylene pi-pi stacking weak attractive forces, we succeeded in synthesizing perylene bisimide macrocyclic dimer and a concatenated dimer-dimer ring from dynamic self-assembly of monomeric bis-N,N'-(2-(2-(2-(2-thioacetylethoxy)ethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)perylenetetracarboxylic diimide. The monocyclic ring closure and the dimer-dimer ring concatenation were accomplished through formation of disulfide bonds, which was readily triggered by air oxidization under basic deacetylation conditions. The perylene cyclic dimer and its concatenated tetramer were characterized using both structural methods (NMR, mass spectroscopy) and photophysical measurements (UV-vis spectroscopy). Kinetic analyses offer informative insights about reaction pathways and possible mechanisms, which lead to the formation of complex concatenated rings. Molecular dynamic behaviors of both the monocyclic dimer and the concatenated dimer-dimer ring were modeled with the NWChem molecular dynamics software module, which shows distinct stacking activities for the monocyclic dimer and the concatenated tetramer.

Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of resorcinol-formaldehyde aerogels.

In this article, we report a detailed study of resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) aerogels prepared under different processing conditions, [resorcinol]/[catalyst] (R/C) ratios in the starting sol-gel solutions, using continuous flow hyperpolarized (129)Xe NMR in combination with solid-state (13)C and two-dimensional wide-line separation (2D-WISE) NMR techniques. The degree of polymerization and the mobility of the cross-linking functional groups in RF aerogels are examined and correlated with the R/C ratios. The origin of different adsorption regions is evaluated using both coadsorption of chloroform and 2D EXSY (129)Xe NMR. A hierarchical set of Xe exchange processes in RF aerogels is found using 2D EXSY (129)Xe NMR. The exchange of Xe gas follows the sequence (from fastest to slowest): mesopores with free gas, gas in meso- and micropores, free gas with micropores, and, finally, among micropore sites. The volume-to-surface-area (V(g)/S) ratios for aerogels are measured for the first time without the use of geometric models. The V(g)/S parameter, which is related both to the geometry and the interconnectivity of the pore space, has been found to correlate strongly with the R/C ratio and exhibits an unusually large span: an increase in the R/C ratio from 50 to 500 results in about a 5-fold rise in V(g)/S.

Thermosensitive gold nanoparticles.

Thermosensitive gold nanoparticles were fabricated by conjugating Au with a thiol-terminated poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) or PPA; this polymer stabilizer exhibits a temperature transition while undergoing a hydrophilic to hydrophobic transformation. The introduction of PPA onto gold nanoparticles has sensitized Au nanoparticles with unique temperature dependence. At low temperature (25 degrees C), the solutions containing PPA-functionalized gold nanoparticles are transparent, whereas higher temperatures (30 degrees C) lead to opaque suspensions. The thermosensitive property of PPA-functionalized Au nanoparticles is reversible, and the clear-opaque suspensions can be repeated many times.