Rational design of periodic porous titanium nitride MXene as a multifunctional catalytic membrane.

Inspired by the experimental realization of lattice-porous graphene and mesoporous MXenes, the possibility of lattice-penetrated porous titanium nitride, Ti12N8, was proposed and verified by density functional theory calculations. Stabilities, together with mechanical and electronic characteristics, are investigated and systemically discussed: both pristine and terminated (-O, -F, -OH) Ti12N8 show great thermodynamic and kinetic stabilities; the reduced stiffness introduced by lattice pores makes Ti12N8 better candidates for functional heterojunctions with less lattice mismatch. Subnanometer-sized pores increased the number of potential catalytic adsorption sites, and terminations allowed the band gap of MXene to reach 2.25 eV. Moreover, by changing terminations and introducing lattice channels, Ti12N8 could be expected to be used for different applications: direct photocatalytic water splitting, excellent H2/CH4 and He/CH4 selectivity and admirable HER/CO2RR overpotentials. Such excellent characteristics could provide another possible path for flexible nanodevices with tunable mechanics, electronics and optoelectronics properties.

Multicomponent supramolecular assemblies of 1(2H)-Phthalazinone and Tetrafluoroterephthalic acid: Understanding the role of hydrogen bonding on the structure and properties using experimental and computational analyses.

Two novel cocrystals were successfully constructed by 1(2H)-Phthalazinone (PHT) and Tetrafluoroterephthalic acid (TETA) based on O-H⋯O, N-H⋯O, C-H⋯O, C-H⋯F, N-H⋯N and C-H⋯N hydrogen bonding networks, and were well depicted by single crystal diffraction analysis. As predicted by electrostatic potential analysis, the stoichiometry of PHT to TETA is 2:1 and stabilized by O-H⋯O and N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The single crystal X-ray diffraction characterized that the two cocrystals were all made up by 2PHT-TETA motif in different ways. AIM analysis and Hirshfeld surfaces indicated the adjacent 2PHT-TETA units assemble through C-H⋯O, C-H⋯F and C-H⋯N hydrogen bonds, producing a 2D plane structure in cocrystal I. Meanwhile, the C-H⋯F, N-H⋯N and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds between 2PHT-TETA units were the stabilizing factors in cocrystal II. Topological parameters such as ∇2ρ and H revealed the strength of hydrogen bonds were moderate in nature except O31⋯H32-O34 (1.704Å, -60.336kJmol-1) in compound I. The hydrogen bonding interactions, cocrystal stability and electron donor-acceptor interactions were investigated using natural bonding orbital analysis. It showed that electron transfer of n(O) σ*(O-H) and n(O) σ*(N-H) between PHT and TETA influence the packing characteristics significantly. Structural changes accompanying cocrystal process have been rationalized through the IR spectrum along with the quantum chemical calculations. The frequency downshifts of CO, N-H and O-H stretching after cocrystallization have been attributed to hydrogen bonding interactions.

Acupoint Catgut Embedding Alleviates Insomnia in Different Chinese Medicine Syndrome Types: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects and safety of catgut embedding on alleviating insomnia. METHODS: Totally 510 patients with insomnia were divided into 5 Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome types: Xin (Heart) and Pi (Spleen) deficiency, yin deficiency with excess fire, Xin and gut qi deficiency, Wei (Stomach) disorder, and qi and blood deficiency, respectively. These 5 types of patients were randomly assigned to a catgut embedding group, an acupuncture group or a medication group (30 cases in Xin and Pi deficiency type, Wei disorder type, Xin and gut qi deficiency type, respectively; 40 cases in yin deficiency with excess fire type and qi and blood deficiency type, respectively). In the catgut embedding group, patients were treated by implanting catgut into acupoints once every 10 days for a total of 30 days. In the acupuncture group, patients were treated with acupuncture once per day over 30 days (excluding weekends); and patients in the medication group took 1 mg Eurodin Tablet orally every night for 30 days. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was evaluated before treatment, on 30 and 60 days after the first treatment, respectively. The International Unified Sleep Efficiency Value (IUSEV) was measured at 30 and 60 days. The safety was evaluated after treatment and adverse events were analyzed. RESULTS: The objective PSQI scores including subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbance, daytime dysfunction, and total scores at 30 days were significantly improved compared with pre-treatment in the catgut embedding and acupuncture groups (P<0.01 or P<0.05). At 30 days, the PSQI scores in catgut embedding group were superior to the medication group in the patients with each type of insomnia, with the exception of sleep duration (P<0.01 or P<0.05). At 60 days, significant differences were found between the catgut embedding group and the medication group (P<0.01 for all indices). The IUSEV scores in the catgut embedding group were significantly higher than the acupuncture group at 60 days, and the scores in acupuncture group were higher than the medication group at 30 days (P<0.05 for all types). No severe adverse events were found in this study. CONCLUSIONS: Acupoint catgut embedding and acupuncture were more effective than medication in alleviating insomnia syndrome in different Chinese medicine syndrome type. However, the sustained effects of acupoint catgut embedding were superior to acupuncture.