2018 New's Items

Recent theoretical predictions indicate that functional groups and additives could have a favorable impact on the hydrogen adsorption characteristics of sorbents; however, no definite evidence has been obtained to date and little is known about the impact of such modifications on the thermodynamics of hydrogen uptake and overall capacity. In this work, we investigate the effect of two types of additives on the cryoadsorption of hydrogen to mesoporous silica. First, Lewis and Brønsted acid sites were evaluated by grafting aluminum to the surface of mesoporous silica (MCF-17) and...

Catalysts are generally classified into three categories: homogeneous, heterogeneous and enzyme, each evolved as an independent field. Efforts to bridge these fields are scarce but desirable. In this Perspective, we first describe how numerous classes of reactions can be achieved by all three categories of catalysts. Examples are given based on a selective survey of the literature. Next, a selection of important approaches, the benefits and challenges of constructing heterogeneous–homogeneous, heterogeneous–enzyme and homogeneous–enzyme hybrid catalysts are discussed based on...

Quantum emitters in two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are attractive for a variety of quantum and photonic technologies because they combine ultra-bright, room-temperature single-photon emission with an atomically thin crystal. However, the emitter’s prominence is hindered by large, strain-induced wavelength shifts. We report the discovery of a visible-wavelength, single-photon emitter (SPE) in a zero-dimensional boron nitride allotrope (the boron nitride nanococoon, BNNC) that retains the excellent optical characteristics of few-layer hBN while possessing an emission...

We synthesized and characterized a set of ultrasmall hexagonal-phase NaGdF4: 20% Yb3+, 2% Er3+ upconversion nanoparticles with core diameters of 3.7 ± 0.5 nm. In order to assess passivation effects and the influence of possible core–shell intermixing and to identify optimum particle structures for combined imaging in the visible and near-infrared (vis–NIR: 410–850 nm) and short-wave infrared (SWIR: 1520 nm), NaYF4shells of varying thicknesses (monolayer to 10 nm) were introduced...