Boosting photocatalytic H2 evolution on UIO-66-NH2/covalent triazine-based frameworks composites by constructing a covalent heterojunction.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have been proved as efficient catalysts for photocatalytic hydrogen (H2) evolution, thanks to their tunable functionalities, permanent porosity, excellent visible light response, and physicochemical stability. Herein, a series of photocatalysts (termed NUBC) was fabricated by loading different amounts of Zr-UiO-66-NH2 (NU) onto a benzoic acid-modified covalent triazine-based framework (BC) based on post-synthetic covalent modification. The resulting NUBC catalysts exhibited a type-II Z-scheme heterojunction structure formed via the amide covalent bonds between the amine groups on NU and carboxyl groups on BC. The optimal loading of NU on BC is 30 wt.% (30NUBC) and the corresponding photocatalytic H2 evolution rate was 378 µmol h-1 g-1, almost 445 and 2 times than that of NU and BC, respectively. The synergistic effect between the type-II Z-scheme heterojunctions and amide bonds was conducive to boosting visible light harvesting and facilitating charge transportation and separation. Furthermore, the prepared NUBC catalysts show great reusability and stability. Overall, this work sheds light on the design of novel MOF/COF hybrid materials and provides a systematic exploration of their photocatalytic H2 evolution properties.

Covalent Triazine Frameworks Decorated with Pyridine-Type Carbonitride Moieties: Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution by Improved Charge Separation.

A simple procedure of calcination under an Ar atmosphere has been successfully applied to create a covalent triazine framework bearing pyridine-type carbonitride moieties (PCN@CTF). The appending of PCN on the CTF led to visible light absorption at up to 600 nm in the UV/Vis diffuse-reflectance spectra. Photoluminescence and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy have been applied to clarify how modification of the CTF with PCN enhanced the separation efficiency of photoexcited charge carriers. An optimized 1%PCN@CTF sample showed the highest photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) rate of 170.2 ± 2.3 µmol g-1·h-1, 3.9 times faster than that over the pristine CTF. The apparent quantum efficiency of the HER peaked at (7.57 ± 0.10)% at 490 nm. This representative 1% PCN@CTF sample maintained continuous function for at least 15 h. This work provides new guidance for modification with PCN materials as a means of obtaining high photocatalytic efficiency and sheds light on the effect of appended pyridine rings on a CTF.

Differential effects of fearful faces under spatial attended and unattended conditions: evidence from an event-related potential study.

We examined the influence of spatial selective attention on the processing of emotional faces (happy neutral, and fear) using behavioral as well as event-related potential recordings. Emotional stimuli were rapidly presented randomly to the right or the left visual field while participants attended to one visual field at a time, detecting smaller stimuli that were shown in the attended field. Behavioral results showed decreased accuracy for the fearful faces compared with neutral and happy faces. Event-related potential data showed that compared with the neutral and happy faces, fearful faces appearing in the right visual field elicited enhanced contralateral P1 amplitudes in the unattended condition, whereas fearful faces appearing in the left visual field elicited decreased contralateral N170 activity in the attended condition. These findings provide evidence for differential emotional processing under spatial attended and unattended conditions.

Cu-Mn-Ce ternary mixed-oxide catalysts for catalytic combustion of toluene.

Cu-Mn, Cu-Mn-Ce, and Cu-Ce mixed-oxide catalysts were prepared by a citric acid sol-gel method and then characterized by XRD, BET, H2-TPR and XPS analyses. Their catalytic properties were investigated in the toluene combustion reaction. Results showed that the Cu-Mn-Ce ternary mixed-oxide catalyst with 1:2:4 mole ratios had the highest catalytic activity, and 99% toluene conversion was achieved at temperatures below 220°C. In the Cu-Mn-Ce catalyst, a portion of Cu and Mn species entered into the CeO2 fluorite lattice, which led to the formation of a ceria-based solid solution. Excess Cu and Mn oxides existed on the surface of the ceria-based solid solution. The coexistence of Cu-Mn mixed oxides and the ceria-based solid solution resulted in a better synergetic interaction than the Cu-Mn and Cu-Ce catalysts, which promoted catalyst reducibility, increased oxygen mobility, and enhanced the formation of abundant active oxygen species.

Sad facial cues inhibit temporal attention: evidence from an event-related potential study.

We examined the influence of different emotional cues (happy or sad) on temporal attention (short or long interval) using behavioral as well as event-related potential recordings during a Stroop task. Emotional stimuli cued short and long time intervals, inducing 'sad-short', 'sad-long', 'happy-short', and 'happy-long' conditions. Following the intervals, participants performed a numeric Stroop task. Behavioral results showed the temporal attention effects in the sad-long, happy-long, and happy-short conditions, in which valid cues quickened the reaction times, but not in the sad-short condition. N2 event-related potential components showed sad cues to have decreased activity for short intervals compared with long intervals, whereas happy cues did not. Taken together, these findings provide evidence for different modulation of sad and happy facial cues on temporal attention. Furthermore, sad cues inhibit temporal attention, resulting in longer reaction time and decreased neural activity in the short interval by diverting more attentional resources.

The difference of brain functional connectivity between eyes-closed and eyes-open using graph theoretical analysis.

To study the differences in functional brain networks between eyes-closed (EC) and eyes-open (EO) at resting state, electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was recorded in 21 normal adults during EC and EO states. The synchronization likelihood (SL) was applied to measure correlations between all pairwise EEG channels, and then the SL matrices were converted to graphs by thresholding. Graphs were measured by topological parameters in theta (4-7 Hz), alpha (8-13 Hz), and beta (14-30 Hz) bands. By changing from EC to EO states, mean cluster coefficients decreased in both theta and alpha bands, but mean shortest path lengths became shorter only in the alpha band. In addition, local efficiencies decreased in both theta and alpha bands, while global efficiencies in the alpha band increased inversely. Opening the eyes decreased both nodes and connections in frontal area in the theta band, and also decreased those in bilateral posterior areas in the alpha band. These results suggested that a combination of the SL and graph theory methods may be a useful tool for distinguishing states of EC and EO. The differences in functional connectivity between EC and EO states may reflect the difference of information communication in human brain.