Topic Review
Structure and Bonding in Planar Hypercoordinate Carbon Compounds
The term hypercoordination refers to the extent of the coordination of an element by its normal value. In the hypercoordination sphere, the element can achieve planar and/or non-planar molecular shape. Hence, planar hypercoordinate carbon species violate two structural rules: (i) The highest coordination number of carbon is four and (ii) the tetrahedral orientation by the connected elements and/or groups. The unusual planar orientations are mostly stabilized by the electronic interactions of the central atom with the surrounding ligands. Primary knowledge of the planar hypercoordinate chemistry will lead to its forthcoming expansion. Experimental and theoretical interests in planar tetracoordinate carbon (ptC), planar pentacoordinate carbon (ppC), and planar hexacoordinate carbon (phC) are continued. The proposed electronic and mechanical strategies are helpful for the designing of the ptC compounds. Moreover, the 18-valence electron rule can guide the design of new ptC clusters computationally as well as experimentally. However, the counting of 18-valence electrons is not a requisite condition to contain a ptC in a cluster. Furthermore, this ptC idea is expanded to the probability of a greater coordination number of carbon in planar orientations. Unfortunately, until now, there are no such logical approaches to designing ppC, phC, or higher-coordinate carbon molecules/ions. There exist a few global minimum structures of phC clusters identified computationally, but none have been detected experimentally. All planar hypercoordinate carbon species in the global minima may be feasible in the gas phase.
  • 2.0K
  • 26 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Mechanism of Photocatalytic Water Splitting
The constant increase in the amount of energy consumed and environmental problems associated with the use of fossil fuels determine the relevance of the search for alternative and renewable energy sources. One of the most promising renewable fuels is hydrogen gas, which can be produced by sunlight-driven photocatalytic water splitting. The decisive role in the efficiency of the process is played by the properties of the photocatalyst. Oxide materials are widely used as photocatalysts due to their appropriate band structure, high-enough photochemical stability and corrosion resistance. However, the bandgap, crystallinity and the surface morphology of oxide materials are subject to improvement. In order to choose an appropriate oxide semiconductor photocatalytic material and strategies of its modification it is necessary to examine the mechanism of the photocatalytic water splitting.
  • 1.9K
  • 01 Aug 2022
Topic Review
The Nitrogen Bond
The nitrogen bond in chemical systems occurs when there is evidence of a net attractive interaction between the electrophilic region associated with a covalently or coordinately bound nitrogen atom in a molecular entity and a nucleophile in another, or the same molecular entity. It is the first member of the family of pnictogen bonds formed by the first atom of the pnictogen family, Group 15, of the periodic table, and is an inter- or intra-molecular non-covalent interaction.
  • 1.9K
  • 25 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Preparation of Protein Oleogels
In recent years, the search for alternative routes to structure oil has gained increasing interest. Structured oils are referred to as oleogels, in which the continuous lipid phase is an edible oil, and the structuring agent forms a three-dimensional network. Such oleogels are used as a substitute for solid fats, which contain high amounts of saturated and trans fatty acids. Among available structuring agents that have been used to provide solid properties to liquid oils, protein is a more recent candidate. Due to their nutritional value and high consumer acceptance, proteins are of special interest for the preparation of edible oleogels as an alternative for solid fats. Whereas the field of protein oleogelation is still rather new and just starts unfolding, several preparation methods have been demonstrated to be suitable for protein oleogel preparation. 
  • 1.8K
  • 12 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Progress of 2D Semiconductor-based photocatalysts
A complete view of basic principles and mechanisms with regard to improving the structure stability, physical and chemical properties of the low dimensional semiconductor-based photocatalysts is presented here. Various 2D semiconductor-based photocatalysts show a high electrochemical property and photocatalytic performance due to their ultrathin character, high specific surface area with more activity sites, tunable bandgap to absorb sunlight and versatile options in structural assembly with other nanosheets. At present, most photocatalysts still need rare or expensive noble metals to improve the photocatalytic activity, which inhibits their commercial-scale application extremely. Thus, developing less costly, earth-abundant semiconductor-based photocatalysts with the efficient conversion of sunlight energy remains the primary challenge. A concise overview of different types of 2D semiconductor-mediated photocatalysts is given to figure out the advantages and disadvantages for mentioned semiconductor-based photocatalysis, including the structural property and stability, synthesize method, electrochemical property, and optical properties for H2/O2 production half-reaction along with overall water splitting.
  • 1.7K
  • 21 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Mass Concentration
In chemistry, the mass concentration ρi (or γi) is defined as the mass of a constituent mi divided by the volume of the mixture V. For a pure chemical the mass concentration equals its density (mass divided by volume); thus the mass concentration of a component in a mixture can be called the density of a component in a mixture. This explains the usage of ρ (the lower case Greek letter rho), the symbol most often used for density.
  • 1.7K
  • 12 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Surface Treatment
Atmospheric plasma treatment is an effective and economical surface treatment technique. The main advantage of this technique is that the bulk properties of the material remain unchanged while the surface properties and biocompatibility are enhanced.
  • 1.6K
  • 09 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Eugenol-based O/W Emulsion by Low-energy Emulsification
Emulsions are systems formed by two immiscible liquids, one of which is dispersed in the other as droplets with a relative stability. These have multiple applications, among them, in the formulation of pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Its preparation requires generating a large interfacial area, which is usually attained by using the physicochemical formulation know-how on surfactant-oil-water (SOW) systems. Among the applications in the pharmaceutical industry, topical creams, and emulsions for intravenous and for oral administration can be found.  Eugenol can be extracted from cloves (Syzygium aromaticum) by various methods, including steam distillation, hydrodistillation and Soxhlet extraction. Furthermore, emulsions based on eugenol can be obtained for a variety of applications, including as topical and oral anesthetic. Nanoemulsions can be formulated with a mixture of non-ionic surfactants Span 20/Tween 80 at an HLB of 11 to 13 and a total surfactant concentration of 4%, using the dilution phase transition method (so-called spontaneous emulsification) to attain stable O/W eugenol-based emulsions. Paraffin oil/eugenol ratio of 4/1 can be used to reach a final emulsion internal oil phase content of 10% with 4% surfactant and 86% aqueous phase. Different polymers are used as viscosifiers, including carboxymethylcellulose. Under these conditions, eugenol-based emulsions with an average droplet size of less than 2 μm can be attained, with topical and oral anesthetic characteristics.
  • 1.6K
  • 03 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Bioactive Lipids in Food Applications
Bioactive lipids, such as fat-soluble vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acids, carotenoids and phytosterols play an important role in boosting human health and wellbeing. These lipophilic substances cannot be synthesized within the human body, and so people must include them in their diet. There is increasing interest in incorporating these bioactive lipids into functional foods designed to produce certain health benefits, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer and cholesterol-lowering properties. However, many of these lipids have poor compatibility with food matrices and low bioavailability because of their extremely low water solubility. Nanotechnology is a promising technology that can be used to overcome many of these limitations. Different kinds of nanoscale delivery systems have been designed to encapsulate and protect bioactive lipids, thereby facilitating their handling, stability, food matrix compatibility, and bioavailability.
  • 1.6K
  • 27 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Nanoparticle Exsolution on Perovskite-Based Catalysts
In heterogeneous catalysis, surfaces decorated with uniformly dispersed, catalytically-active (nano)particles are a key requirement for excellent performance. Besides standard catalyst preparation routines—with limitations in controlling catalyst surface structure (i.e., particle size distribution or dispersion)—exsolution is a potential novel and time efficient route to precisely tailor catalyst surface morphology and composition of perovskites: Perovskite-type oxides of nominal composition ABO3 with transition metal cations on the B-site can exsolve the B-site transition metal upon controlled reduction. In this exsolution process, the transition metal emerges from the oxide lattice and migrates to the surface where it forms catalytically active nanoparticles. Doping the B-site with reducible and catalytically highly active elements, offers the opportunity of tailoring properties of exsolution catalysts.
  • 1.4K
  • 01 Nov 2020
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