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Dual-Template Approach to Hierarchically Porous Polymer Membranes

11 Dec 2020

Polymer membranes are an important class of materials that find use in a wide variety of fields. The suitability of a polymer membrane often requires careful tuning of their properties to the target application. This must be balanced with the cost of any modification. Hence the non-solvent induced phase separation method (NIPS) is a common route of manufacture for polymer membranes, as it is easy to accomplish on a commercial scale at low-cost.’

In the NIPS method, the polymer of choice is first dissolved in a good solvent, along with any additives, before its immersion in a non-solvent to produce the membrane morphology. This morphology typically shows a dense skin-layer with smaller pores above a layer of larger finger-like vertical pores. By careful choice of additive, some of the membrane properties, including hydrophilicity and microstructure, can be modified.

Poly(ethersulfone) (PES) is a material commonly used for water filtration membranes, chosen for its good mechanical, thermal and chemical properties. Use of an amphiphilic surfactant additive has been shown to produce a membrane with a larger and more well-defined microstructure in the larger finger-like pore regime, as well as increasing the surface hydrophilicity, a key requirement for reduction in biological fouling.

This work by Southern and Evans of the University of Cambridge introduces an additional level of structural hierarchy by the use of a second template molecule, 4-(phenylazo)benzoic acid (PABA), as well as the surfactant Pluronic® F127 (F127) to allow templating of both the dense skin layer and the larger pores. This addition of PABA leads to a more fibrous structure at the 1μm level, leading to higher pore connectivity and permeability, compared to membranes templated only with F127 (Figure 1).

Figure 1a. shows the poor connectivity of the skin layer of a membrane templated with only F127, compared to the fibrous structure of a membrane templated with both F127 and PABA shown in Figure 1b.

Their work demonstrates that this fibrous structure leads to a remarkable increase in flow rate that is improved further by the subsequent removal of the PABA. Extraction using ethanol is shown to provide an excellent approach for removal. This extraction method also allows recycling of the PABA for further membrane manufacture.

This dual-template approach, as part of the NIPS process, can be used to easily modify membrane manufacture, producing membranes exhibiting a hierarchical structure with improved pore connectivity, which could find use as energy materials or in water filtration.

Authors:

Dr Rachel C. Evans

Dr Rachel Evans obtained her MChem and PhD in Physical Chemistry from Swansea University. She was a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Université Paris-Sud, France and subsequently held an FCT research fellowship between the University of Coimbra and the University of Aveiro, Portugal. From 2009-2016, she was an Assistant, then Associate Professor in Physical Chemistry at Trinity College Dublin (TCD). In 2017, Rachel moved back to the UK to take up a University Lectureship at the University of Cambridge in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy. Rachel’s research is multidisciplinary and involves polymer, colloid and photophysical chemistry. Her current work is focused on the development of photoactive polymer-hybrid materials for luminescent solar devices, organic photovoltaics and stimuli-responsive membranes. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and. In 2017, she was awarded the Dillwyn Medal for STEMM from the Learned Society of Wales and the MacroGroup UK Young Researcher’s Medal.

Thomas Southern graduated from the University of Cambridge with an MSci and B.A. in Materials Science. In 2017, Thomas began his PhD as part of the Functional Photoactive Materials group at the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, within the University of Cambridge. Thomas’ work, funded by an EPSRC studentship, focuses on hierarchically porous membranes for environmental remediation.

Article information:

Dual-template approach to hierarchically porous polymer membranes
Thomas J. F. Southern and Rachel C. Evans
Mater. Chem. Front., 2021, Advance Article
https://doi.org/10.1039/D0QM00610F

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Shu-Hong Yu — introducing the new Editor-in-Chief of Materials Chemistry Frontiers

07 Dec 2020

We are delighted to announce the new Editor-in-Chief for Materials Chemistry Frontiers, Shu-Hong Yu from University of Science and Technology of China!

Shu-Hong Yu completed PhD in inorganic chemistry in 1998 from University of Science and Technology of China. From 1999 to 2001, he worked in Tokyo Institute of Technology as a Postdoctoral Fellow, and was awarded the AvH Fellowship (2001-2002) in the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Germany. He was appointed as a full professor in 2002 and the Cheung Kong Professorship in 2006. He was elected as Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2019. He serves as the Director of the Division of Nanomaterials and Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale.

His research interests include bio-inspired synthesis of inorganic nanostructures, self-assembly of nanoscale building blocks, nanocomposites, their related properties and applications. His research work has been cited more than 56,400 citations (H index 132), named as a Highly Cited Researcher from 2014 to 2020.

“It is an honour to serve as Editor-in-Chief of Materials Chemistry Frontiers. I look forward to working together with the Editorial Board to maintain the high-quality standards of our journal and to continue its success.”

Read Shu-Hong’s latest review article in MCF on nanowire materials.

Shu-Hong will formally assume the role of Editor-in-Chief on 21st December 2020 from Professor Ben Zhong Tang, who has led the journal since launched. We would like to thank Ben Zhong for his years of hard work, dedication and diligence. MCF has maintained a rapid and steady growth on its scientific quality and global impact during the past four years. We are confident Shu-Hong will continue the many successes of MCF and keep enhancing the flourishing reputation of the journal under his leadership.

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Materials Chemistry Frontiers Desktop Seminar: Celebrating Prof. Fred Wudl’ s 80th Birthday

02 Dec 2020

Materials Chemistry Frontiers is pleased to announce a Webinar Celebrating Prof. Fred Wudl’ s 80th Birthday. It will focus on the topic of organic semiconductors showcasing the latest work from Fred Wudl and his friends.

Register Now

https://rsc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eTodlScqT-W8SugtlJUH2A

Schedule

11 December 2020, 9:30-12:00 am (UTC+8)

Time	Talk title	Speaker
9:30 – 9:35	Opening speech	Dmitrii F. Perepichka (Chair)
9:35 – 10:20	Fifty Years of Fun with Organo-Sulfur Chemistry and Materials Science	Fred Wudl
10:20 – 10:45	A Brief History of Conjugated Polyelectrolytes: In Honor of Prof. Fred Wudl	Kirk Schanze
10:45 – 11:10	Conjugation Functional Organic and Polymeric Materials for OPV	Yongsheng Chen
11:10 – 11:35	Non-Classical Thiophene-based Imide Materials as n-Type Semiconductors	Hong Meng
11:35 – 12:00	Towards Higher Twisted Acenes and Azaacenes	Qichun Zhang

Biography

Speakers:

Prof. Fred Wudl, University of California, Santa Barbara

Fred Wudl, Retired 2019, University of UCSB. B.S. 1964 and Ph.D. 1967, UCLA and postdoctoral, Harvard, 1968 to 1972 SUNY Buffalo, 1972 – 1982 Bell Laboratories, 1982 – 1997 UCSB, 1997 – 2006 UCLA, 2006 – 2019 UCSB. Discovered the electronic conductivity of the precursor to the first organic metal and superconductor. Research interests in conducting polymers. Currently interests in optical and electrooptical properties of processable conjugated polymers, organic chemistry of fullerenes, design and preparation of self-mending and self-healing materials and Li batteries. Received numerous and has published over 595 papers with 47,500 citations and H index of 100.

Prof. Kirk Schanze, University of Texas at San Antonio

Kirk Schanze earned his B.S. in Chemistry from Florida State University in 1979 and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1983. He was appointed a Miller Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1984-1986 and began his independent faculty career at the University of Florida in 1986. Schanze was University Distinguished Professor and Prominski Professor of Chemistry at the University of Florida until 2016. He is currently the Robert A Welch Distinguished University Professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He was a Senior Editor of the ACS journal Langmuir from 2000-2008. Since 2008, Schanze is Editor-in-Chief of ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, the ACS journal focused on chemistry and engineering of applications-focused research in materials and interfaces.He has authored or co-authored more than 300 peer-reviewed articles on basic and applied research topics, with a primary focus on organic and organometallic materials chemistry, and is named in 20 patents or disclosures.

Prof. Yongsheng Chen, Nankai University

He got his PhD in 1997 at University of Victoria with Prof Reg Mitchel. From 1997-1999, he had worked as a Postdoc at UCLA with Prof Fred Wudl and University of Kentucky with Prof Robert Haddon. From 2003, he has been working at Nankai University as a chair professor.

He has published over 300 papers, including that in Science, Nature, JACS, AM, etc., which have been cited over 50000 times with H-index of 102. He has been recognized as one of highly-cited researchers by Clarivate Analytics since 2014.

Prof. Hong Meng, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School

Hong Meng received his PhD under the guidance of Prof. Fred Wudl from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States in 2002. He has been working in the field of organic electronics for more than 20 years. His career experiences include working in the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering (IMRE) at Singapore, Lucent Technologies Bell Labs, DuPont Experimental Station. In 2012, Dr. Meng joined a laser printing company and conducted new research in chemical toner synthesis, special rubber composites and conducting ink formulations. He was selected under the Recruitment Program of Global Experts in 2013. In 2014, he moved to the School of Advanced Materials at Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School.

Prof. Meng’s research focuses on organic opto-electronic functional materials and devices: 1. Organic Electrochromics; 2. Sensors; 3. Light-Emitting Diodes; 4. Photovoltaics. He has contributed over 130 peer-reviewed papers (Citations: >6000) in Chemistry and Materials Science fields, filed over 46 US patents, 60 Chinese patents, published several book chapters and co-edited one book titled “Organic Light-Emitting Materials and Devices”.

Prof. Qichun Zhang, City University of Hong Kong

Qichun Zhang obtained his B.S. at Nanjing University in China in 1992, MS in physical organic chemistry (organic solid lab) at Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1998, MS in organic chemistry at University of California, Los Angeles (USA), and completed his Ph.D. in chemistry at University of California Riverside in 2007. Then, he joined Prof. Kanatzidis’ group at Northwestern University as a Postdoctoral Fellow (Oct. 2007 –Dec. 2008). Since Jan. 2009, he joined School of Materials Science and Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU, Singapore) as an Assistant Professor. On Mar 1st, 2014, he has promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. On Sep 1^st 2020, he moved to Department of Materials Science and Engineering at City University of Hong Kong as a full professor. Currently, he is an associate editor of J. Solid State Chemistry, the International Advisory Board member of Chemistry – An Asian Journal, the Advisory board member of Journal of Materials Chemistry C, the Advisory board member of Materials Chemistry Frontiers, and the Advisory board member of Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers. Also, he is Guest Editor of Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers (2016-2017), Guest Editor of Journal of Materials Chemistry C (2017-2018), and Guest Editor of Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers (2017-2018). In 2018, 2019 and 2020, he has been recognized as one of highly-cited researchers (top 1%) in cross-field in Clarivate Analytics. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Currently, his research focuses on carbon-rich conjugated materials and their applications. Till now, he has published >395 papers and 5 patents (total citation > 20000, and H-index: 79).

Chair:

Prof. Dmitrii F. Perepichka, McGill University

He studied at Donetsk State University in Ukraine and received PhD in chemistry from the Institute of Physical Organic Chemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in 1999. This was followed by post-doctoral training at Durham University with Martin Bryce and at UCLA with Fred Wudl. After his first appointment at INRS-Energy, Materials and Telecommunications, Canada (2003), he moved to McGill University in 2005. The contributions of his research group include low-gap donor-acceptor systems, two-dimensional polymers and covalent organic frameworks, luminescent organic semiconductors, on-surface self-assembly, supramolecular design of semiconductors.

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Purity of organic semiconductors substantially increase the performance of organic transistors

09 Nov 2020

In their recent paper in Materials Chemistry Frontiers, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, the authors Cigdem Yumusak, Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci, Mihai Irimia-Vladu, from the Linz Institute for Organic Solar Cells (LIOS), Physical Chemistry at the Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria investigated the effects of purification of different organic semiconductors (i.e. n-type, p-type, and ambipolar) in performance of organic field effect transistors (OFETs). The results clearly indicate that performance for the field of organic field effect transistors can be enhanced orders of magnitude by the purification.

Fig. 1: Schematic view of the OFET architecture

Organic semiconductors are interesting through their versatility in high throughput at low cost of production. For achieving the coveted goal of “green” and sustainable electronics development, one can tailor and make these materials biocompatible and biodegradable. The large-scale electronic waste produced in the world is creating trouble in the supply chain of rare earth materials as well as plastic waste contamination in oceans, due to packaging materials in general. Both these unfortunate events can be faced successfully if we introduce the biodegradable organic semiconductors, substrates and plastics.

Back in 2011 there were already crystalline OFETs with the mobility values exceeding those of amorphous silicon. Nevertheless, reaching values of field effect mobility in excess of 10 cm²/Vs remains a tremendous challenge for organic semiconductors and rather difficult to materialize at the same time. More often than not, organic electronic devices are fabricated with the “as received” materials carrying the declared purity by the chemical supplier. Nevertheless, when the effort of purification was invested, then the results improved impressively, with the recorded mobility of the organic semiconductor reaching record values in excess of 5 cm²/Vs for single crystal based OFETs with rubrene. Importantly also, time of flight measurements at low temperature of ultra-pure oligomeric systems of organic semiconductors showed that mobilities of 10 cm²/Vs at room temperature and of several hundred cm²/Vs at low temperatures are possible to achieve.

In this work, authors tackle the issue of materials’ purity and its influence on organic electronic devices systematically. They compared the effect of different materials as well as different purification degrees respectively, on the performance of fabricated devices. This is to demonstrate systematically the influence of this “purification versus performance” relationship. For this study a large pool of organic semiconductor materials, with n-, p-, and ambipolar-type of charge transport were investigated. The selected semiconductors for this study were: fullerene (C₆₀), pentacene, copper phthalocyanine, indigo (vat blue 1), Tyrian purple, epindolidione, quinacridone and indanthrene blue RS (vat blue 4), the latter 5 molecules belonging to the group of hydrogen bonded (bio)-organic semiconductors.

Fig. 2: Molecular structure of the organic semiconductors used in this study: (from upper left to lower right) Fulleren C60, pentacene, copperphtalocyanine, indanthrene Blue RS, quinacridone, epindolidione, Tyrian purple (dibromoindigo) and indigo.

The method of purification of the organic semiconductors investigated in this study was the train sublimation method shown in Fig.3.

Fig. 3: Photograph of the train sublimation oven showing the sublimed material in the vacuum tube

As an example of the effect of purification take a look at the increase of field effect mobility by several order of magnitude by different purification steps using epindolidione.

Fig. 4: a) Comparison of OFET devices with three different purity grades of epindolidione semiconductor: unpurified (0X in graph legend), one time purified (1X in graph legend) and three times purified respectively (3X in graph legend); b) the Sqrt(Ids) vs. V_gs of the three purity grades presented in panel a)

Indeed, starting from very low field effect mobility of the “as received” material of 4.4×10^-6 cm²/Vs, epindolidione based OFETs almost reached the mobility of 0.1 cm²/Vs after being subjected to three steps of purification. This tremendous mobility improvement was accompanied by a decrease of the subthreshold swing from 11.3 V/dec. to 1.9 V/dec. and an increase of the ON/OFF ratio from 3.5 to 3.5×10⁴, literally a 10000-fold improvement.

Authors:

Çiğdem Yumuşak is postdoctoral researcher at the Linz Institute for Organic Solar Cells (LIOS) and Physical Chemistry at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Austria. She completed her BSc., MSc., and PhD degrees in Physics at the Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey. Her scientific interests focus on semiconductor physics, bio-origin materials and their implementation into organic electronic devices, and bioelectronics.

Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci is Ordinarius Professor for Physical Chemistry and the Founding Director of the Linz Institute for Organic Solarcells (LIOS) at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz/Austria. He graduated as PhD in physics in Vienna. After postdoctoral study at the University of Stuttgart he joined the Institute for Polymers and Organic Solids at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. Since 1996 he moved to Linz. He is the inventor of conjugated polymer and fullerene based “bulk heterojunction” solar cells. Prof. Sariciftci published over 600 publications and with over 75000 citations he is one of the most cited scientists in material science (2011, Thompson Reuter ranking No: 14 of the world in material science). He is a corresponding member of the Academy of Science in Austria (ÖAW) and a member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences in.

Dr. Mihai Irimia-Vladu obtained his PhD from the Materials Engineering Department of Auburn University, Alabama, USA in August 2006, under the guidance of Prof. Jeffrey Fergus. He moved to Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria as a post-doctoral researcher in the groups of the late Prof. Siegfried Bauer (Soft Matter Physics) and Prof. Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci (Physical Chemistry) where he initiated research activity on biocompatible and biodegradable materials for electronics. After an employment at the Department of Surface Technologies and Photonics of Joanneum Research mbH in Weiz, Austria, Dr. Mihai Irimia-Vladu is back at Johannes Kepler University Linz as Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Chemistry, where he continues his research investigations of environmentally friendly materials for bioelectronics and energy harvesting devices development.

Article information:

Purity of Organic Semiconductors as a Key Factor for the Performance of Organic Electronic Devices
Cigdem Yumusak, Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci and Mihai Irimia-Vladu
Mater. Chem. Front., 2020, Accepted Manuscript
https://doi.org/10.1039/D0QM00690D

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Lithium-based Batteries – A collection of articles from Materials Chemistry Frontiers

05 Jun 2020

We are delighted to share with you a collection of articles from Materials Chemistry Frontiers to showcase the exciting and recent developments in the field of Lithium-Based Batteries, including lithium-ion batteries, lithium-sulphur batteries and lithium-air batteries. This collection is free to access till July 19^th 2020 .

Reviews

A new generation of energy storage electrode materials constructed from carbon dots
Ji-Shi Wei, Tian-Bing Song, Peng Zhang, Xiao-Qing Niu, Xiao-Bo Chen and Huan-Ming Xiong
Mater. Chem. Front., 2020,4, 729-749
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00554D

Three-dimensional porous carbon materials and their composites as electrodes for electrochemical energy storage systems
Xiaoyang Deng, Jiajun Li, Liying Ma, Junwei Sha and Naiqin Zhao
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 2221-2245
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00425D

Antimony-based materials as promising anodes for rechargeable lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries
Jun He, Yaqing Wei, Tianyou Zhai and Huiqiao Li
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 437-455
https://doi.org/10.1039/C7QM00480J

Recent progress in Zn-based anodes for advanced lithium ion batteries
Lei Wang, Guanhua Zhang, Quanhui Liu and Huigao Duan
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 1414-1435
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QM00125A

Multifunctional second barrier layers for lithium–sulfur batteries
Wei Fan, Longsheng Zhang and Tianxi Liu
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 235-252
https://doi.org/10.1039/C7QM00405B

Research articles

Multifunctional ultrasmall-MoS₂/graphene composites for high sulfur loading Li–S batteries
Tianyu Tang, Teng Zhang, Lina Zhao, Biao Zhang, Wei Li, Junjie Xu, Long Zhang, Hailong Qiu and Yanglong Hou
Mater. Chem. Front., 2020,4, 1483-1491
https://doi.org/10.1039/D0QM00082E

Cationic covalent organic framework based all-solid-state electrolytes
Zhen Li, Zhi-Wei Liu, Zhen-Jie Mu, Chen Cao, Zeyu Li, Tian-Xiong Wang, Yu Li, Xuesong Ding, Bao-Hang Han and Wei Feng
Mater. Chem. Front., 2020,4, 1164-1173
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00781D

The journey of lithium ions in the lattice of PNb₉O₂₅
Haoxiang Yu, Jundong Zhang, Runtian Zheng, Tingting Liu, Na Peng, Yu Yuan, Yufei Liu, Jie Shu and Zhen-Bo Wang
Mater. Chem. Front., 2020,4, 631-637
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00694J

The suppression of lithium dendrites by a triazine-based porous organic polymer-laden PEO-based electrolyte and its application for all-solid-state lithium batteries
N. Angulakshmi, R. Baby Dhanalakshmi, Murugavel Kathiresan, Yingke Zhou and A. Manuel Stephan
Mater. Chem. Front., 2020,4, 933-940
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00707E

A novel ordered hollow spherical nickel silicate–nickel hydroxide composite with two types of morphologies for enhanced electrochemical storage performance
Qiushi Wang, Yifu Zhang, Jinqiu Xiao, Hanmei Jiang, Xiaojuan Li and Changgong Meng
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 2090-2101
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00392D

Ultrafine MoO₃ nanoparticles embedded in porous carbon nanofibers as anodes for high-performance lithium-ion batteries
Xiu Liu, Yuan Liu, Xiaodong Yan, Jin-Le Lan, Yunhua Yu and Xiaoping Yang
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 120-126
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QM00497H

3D hollow reduced graphene oxide foam as a stable host for high-capacity lithium metal anodes
Pengcheng Yao, Qiyuan Chen, Yu Mu, Jie Liang, Xiuqiang Li, Xin Liu, Yang Wang, Bin Zhu and Jia Zhu
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 339-343
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QM00499D

V₂(PO₄)O/C@CNT hollow spheres with a core–shell structure as a high performance anode material for lithium-ion batteries
Bin Xiao, Wen-hai Zhang, Hai-feng Xia, Zhi-teng Wang, Lin-bo Tang, Chang-sheng An, Zhen-jiang He, Hui Tong and Jun-chao Zheng
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 456-463
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QM00619A

Graphene-based Fe-coordinated framework porphyrin as an interlayer for lithium–sulfur batteries
Jin-Lei Qin, Bo-Quan Li, Jia-Qi Huang, Long Kong, Xiang Chen, Hong-Jie Peng, Jin Xie, Ruiping Liu and Qiang Zhang
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 615-619
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QM00645H

A 2D/2D graphitic carbon nitride/N-doped graphene hybrid as an effective polysulfide mediator in lithium–sulfur batteries
Junsheng Ma, Mingpeng Yu, Huanyu Ye, Hongquan Song, Dongxue Wang, Yanting Zhao, Wei Gong and Hong Qiu
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 1807-1815
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00228F

A sandwich-type sulfur cathode based on multifunctional ceria hollow spheres for high-performance lithium–sulfur batteries
Jianwei Wang, Bo Zhou, Hongyang Zhao, Miaomiao Wu, Yaodong Yang, Xiaolei Sun, Donghai Wang and Yaping Du
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 1317-1322
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00024K

Synthesis and thermodynamic investigation of MnO nanoparticle anchored N-doped porous carbon as the anode for Li-ion and Na-ion batteries
Ya-Nan Sun, Liangtao Yang, Zhu-Yin Sui, Li Zhao, Mustafa Goktas, Hang-Yu Zhou, Pei-Wen Xiao, Philipp Adelhelm and Bao-Hang Han
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 2728-2737
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00599D

An insight into the pyrolysis process of metal–organic framework templates/precursors to construct metal oxide anode materials for lithium-ion batteries
Ang Li, Binbin Qian, Ming Zhong, Yingying Liu, Ze Chang and Xian-He Bu
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 1398-1405
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00098D

Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ quantum dot decorated carbon frameworks from carbon dots for fast lithium ion storage
Lin Li, Xinnan Jia, Yu Zhang, Tianyun Qiu, Wanwan Hong, Yunling Jiang, Guoqiang Zou, Hongshuai Hou, Xianchun Chen and Xiaobo Ji
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 1761-1767
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00259F

A general low-temperature synthesis route to polyanionic vanadium phosphate fluoride cathode materials: AVPO₄F (A = Li, Na, K) and Na₃V₂(PO₄)₂F₃
Nicolas Goubard-Bretesché, Erhard Kemnitz and Nicola Pinna
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 2164-2174
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00325H

Revisiting and improving the preparation of silicon-based electrodes for lithium-ion batteries: ball milling impact on poly(acrylic acid) polymer binders
Thibaut Chartrel, Mariama Ndour, Véronique Bonnet, Sébastien Cavalaglio, Luc Aymard, Franck Dolhem, Laure Monconduit and Jean-Pierre Bonnet
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 881-891
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QM00660A

Arranged redistribution of sulfur species and synergistic mediation of polysulfide conversion in lithium–sulfur batteries by a cactus structure MnO₂/carbon nanofiber interlayer
Zhihao Yu, Tianji Gao, TrungHieu Le, Jie Cheng and Ying Yang
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 948-954
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00022D

Silicon nanoparticle-sandwiched ultrathin MoS₂–graphene layers as an anode material for Li-ion batteries
Ujjwala V. Kawade, Anuradha A. Ambalkar, Rajendra P. Panmand, Ramchandra S. Kalubarme, Sunil R. Kadam, Sonali D. Naik, Milind V. Kulkarni and Bharat B. Kale
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 587-596
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QM00568K

The formation of yolk–shell structured NiO nanospheres with enhanced lithium storage capacity
Jian Wang, Panpan Su, Jing Zhang, Fangfang Wang, Yali Chen, Hao Liu and Jian Liu
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 1619-1625
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00328B

Electric field effect in a Co₃O₄/TiO₂ p–n junction for superior lithium-ion storage
Huabin Kong, Chunshuang Yan, Chade Lv, Jian Pei and Gang Chen
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 909-915
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00007K

A novel lithium-ion hybrid capacitor based on an aerogel-like MXene wrapped Fe₂O₃ nanosphere anode and a 3D nitrogen sulphur dual-doped porous carbon cathode
Xiao Tang, Hao Liu, Xin Guo, Shijian Wang, Wenjian Wu, Anjon Kumar Mondal, Chengyin Wang and Guoxiu Wang
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 1811-1821
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QM00232K

In situ synthesis of Cu₂O–CuO–C supported on copper foam as a superior binder-free anode for long-cycle lithium-ion batteries
Xiaoming Lin, Jia Lin, Jiliang Niu, Jinji Lan, R. Chenna Krishna Reddy, Yuepeng Cai, Jincheng Liu and Gang Zhang
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 2254-2262
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QM00366A

Fe/Fe₃C@graphitic carbon shell embedded in carbon nanotubes derived from Prussian blue as cathodes for Li–O₂ batteries
Yanqing Lai, Yifeng Jiao, Junxiao Song, Kai Zhang, Jie Li and Zhian Zhang
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 376-384
https://doi.org/10.1039/C7QM00503B

A novel hierarchical precursor of densely integrated hydroxide nanoflakes on oxide microspheres toward high-performance layered Ni-rich cathode for lithium ion batteries
Yan Li, Xinhai Li, Zhixing Wang, Huajun Guo, Tao Li, Kui Meng and Jiexi Wang
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 1822-1828
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QM00326B

In situ TEM study of lithiation into a PPy coated α-MnO₂/graphene foam freestanding electrode
Mohammad Akbari Garakani, Sara Abouali, Jiang Cui and Jang-Kyo Kim
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 1481-1488
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QM00153G

Directionally assembled MoS₂ with significantly expanded interlayer spacing: a superior anode material for high-rate lithium-ion batteries
Qilin Wei, Min-Rui Gao, Yan Li, Dongtang Zhang, Siyu Wu, Zonghai Chen and Yugang Sun
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 1441-1448
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QM00117K

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Functional conjugated organic molecules – A collection of articles from Frontiers Journals

09 May 2020

We are delighted to share with you a collection of articles from Materials Chemistry Frontiers and Organic Chemistry Frontiers to showcase the key findings and breakthroughs in the field of functional conjugated organic molecules, including the synthesis of the conjugated systems, their properties and applications. This collection is free to access till Jun 19^th 2020.

Reviews

Figuration of bowl-shaped π-conjugated molecules: properties and functions
Masaichi Saito, Hiroshi Shinokubo and Hidehiro Sakurai
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 635-661
https://doi.org/10.1039/C7QM00593H

Design strategies of n-type conjugated polymers for organic thin-film transistors
Ying Sui, Yunfeng Deng, Tian Du, Yibo Shi and Yanhou Geng
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 1932-1951
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00382G

Research articles

Modulation of luminescence chromic behaviors and environment-responsive intensity changes by substituents in bis-o-carborane-substituted conjugated molecules
Hiroki Mori, Kenta Nishino, Keisuke Wada, Yasuhiro Morisaki, Kazuo Tanaka and Yoshiki Chujo
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 573-579
https://doi.org/10.1039/C7QM00486A

Enhancement of intra- and inter-molecular π-conjugated effects for a non-fullerene acceptor to achieve high-efficiency organic solar cells with an extended photoresponse range and optimized morphology
Ning Wang, Lingling Zhan, Shuixing Li, Minmin Shi, Tsz-Ki Lau, Xinhui Lu, Rafi Shikler, Chang-Zhi Li and Hongzheng Chen
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 2006-2012
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QM00318A

One-step rapid synthesis of π-conjugated large oligomers via C–H activation coupling
Shi-Yong Liu, Di-Gang Wang, Ai-Guo Zhong and He-Rui Wen
Org. Chem. Front., 2018,5, 653-661
https://doi.org/10.1039/C7QO00960G

Folate-conjugated and pH-triggered doxorubicin and paclitaxel co-delivery micellar system for targeted anticancer drug delivery
Lijing Niu, Feiyan Zhu, Bowen Li, Lingling Zhao, Hongze Liang, Yinghua Yan and Hui Tan
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 1529-1538
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QM00217G

Influence of catalytic systems in Stille polymerization on the electrochromic performance of diketopyrrolopyrrole-based conjugated polymers
Wei Teng Neo, Qun Ye, Zugui Shi, Soo-Jin Chua and Jianwei Xu
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 331-337
https://doi.org/10.1039/C7QM00377C

Highly efficient transformation of linear poly(phenylene ethynylene)s into zigzag-shaped π-conjugated microporous polymers through boron-mediated alkyne benzannulation
Yoshiaki Shoji, Minsu Hwang, Haruka Sugiyama, Fumitaka Ishiwari, Kumiko Takenouchi, Ryota Osuga, Junko N. Kondo, Shigenori Fujikawa and Takanori Fukushima
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 807-814
https://doi.org/10.1039/C7QM00582B

Conjugated molecular dyads with diketopyrrolopyrrole-based conjugated backbones for single-component organic solar cells
Dongdong Xia, Fan Yang, Junyu Li, Cheng Li and Weiwei Li
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 1565-1573
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00238C

Preparation of bright-emissive hybrid materials based on light-harvesting POSS having radially integrated luminophores and commercial π-conjugated polymers
Masayuki Gon, Keita Sato, Keigo Kato, Kazuo Tanaka and Yoshiki Chujo
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 314-320
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QM00518D

Fused donor–acceptor π-conjugated diazatruxenones: synthesis and electronic properties
Angela Benito-Hernández, Mardia T. El-Sayed, Juan T. López Navarrete, M. Carmen Ruiz Delgado and Berta Gómez-Lor
Org. Chem. Front., 2018,5, 1748-1755
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QO00122G

Orthogonally arranged tripyrrin–BODIPY conjugates with an “edge to plane” mode
Chun-Liang Hou, Yuhang Yao, Da Wang, Jing Zhang and Jun-Long Zhang
Org. Chem. Front., 2019,6, 2266-2274
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QO00445A

Near-infrared light-induced shape memory, self-healable and anti-bacterial elastomers prepared by incorporation of a diketopyrrolopyrrole-based conjugated polymer
Yaling Zhang, Shiwei Zhou, Kok Chan Chong, Shaowei Wang and Bin Liu
Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 836-841
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00104B

Increased conjugated backbone twisting to improve carbonylated-functionalized polymer photovoltaic performance
Tao Zhang, Cunbin An, Kangqiao Ma, Kaihu Xian, Changguo Xue, Shaoqing Zhang, Bowei Xu and Jianhui Hou
Org. Chem. Front., 2020,7, 261-266
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QO01251F

Pyridine-terminated low gap π-conjugated oligomers: design, synthesis, and photophysical response to protonation and metalation
Asmerom O. Weldeab, Lei Li, Seda Cekli, Khalil A. Abboud, Kirk S. Schanze and Ronald K. Castellano
Org. Chem. Front., 2018,5, 3170-3177
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QO00963E

Molecular modulation of fluorene-dibenzothiophene-S,S-dioxide-based conjugated polymers for enhanced photoelectrochemical water oxidation under visible light
Chunhui Dai, Xuezhong Gong, Xianglin Zhu, Can Xue and Bin Liu
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 2021-2025
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QM00275D

Helicene-derived aggregation-induced emission conjugates with highly tunable circularly polarized luminescence
Chengshuo Shen, Fuwei Gan, Guoli Zhang, Yongle Ding, Jinghao Wang, Ruibin Wang, Jeanne Crassous and Huibin Qiu
Mater. Chem. Front., 2020,4, 837-844
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00652D

Electrochemical doping engineering tuning of the thermoelectric performance of a π-conjugated free-standing poly(thiophene-furan) thin-film
Wenqian Yao, Lanlan Shen, Peipei Liu, Congcong Liu, Jingkun Xu, Qinglin Jiang, Guoqiang Liu, Guangming Nie and Fengxing Jiang
Mater. Chem. Front., 2020,4, 597-604
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QM00542K

Conjugated oligomers with alternating heterocycles from a single monomer: synthesis and demonstration of electroluminescence
Sara Urrego-Riveros, Matthias Bremer, Jonas Hoffmann, Anne Heitmann, Thibault Reynaldo, Janek Buhl, Paul J. Gates, Frank D. Sönnichsen, Muriel Hissler, Martina Gerken and Anne Staubitz
Org. Chem. Front., 2019,6, 3636-3643
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QO00947G

The synthesis and properties of a new class of π-expanded diketopyrrolopyrrole analogs and conjugated polymers
Yazhou Wang, Yuchun Xu, Mahesh Kumar Ravva, Yaping Yu, Mingfei Xiao, Xiang Xue, Xinru Yang, Yongming Chen, Zhengke Li and Wan Yue
Org. Chem. Front., 2019,6, 2974-2980
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QO00645A

Wave-packet multi-scale simulations based on a non-linear tight-binding Hamiltonian for carrier transport in π-conjugated polymers
Tomofumi Tada
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 1351-1359
https://doi.org/10.1039/C7QM00591A

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Welcome to Issue 4 of Materials Chemistry Frontiers in 2018!

02 Apr 2018

The latest MaterChemFront issue is published online.

The front cover story, High-performance hybrid organic thermoelectric SWNTs/PEDOT:PSS thin-films for energy harvesting is contributed by Qinglin Jiang, Xiaoqi Lan, Congcong Liu, Hui Shi, Zhengyou Zhu, Feng Zhao, Jingkun Xu and Fengxing Jiang. The inside cover features a story on Iron nanoparticles-based supramolecular hydrogels to originate anisotropic hybrid materials with enhanced mechanical strength by Rafael Contreras-Montoya, Ana B. Bonhome-Espinosa, Angel Orte, Delia Miguel, Jose M. Delgado-López, Juan D. G. Duran, Juan M. Cuerva, Modesto T. Lopez-Lopez and Luis Álvarez de Cienfuegos.

Following review type articles are included in current issue:

Impact of molecular orientation on fluorescence emission enhancement in aggregates
P. Srujana and T. P. Radhakrishnan
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 632-634

Figuration of bowl-shaped π-conjugated molecules: properties and functions
Masaichi Saito, Hiroshi Shinokubo and Hidehiro Sakurai
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 635-661

Optically active plasmonic resonance in self-assembled nanostructures
Jiaji Cheng, Eric H. Hill, Yuebing Zheng, Tingchao He and Yanjun Liu
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 662-678

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Welcome to issue 2 of Materials Chemistry Frontiers!

02 Feb 2018

The latest MaterChemFront issue is published online

The front cover story, Hybridization of metal–organic frameworks and task-specific ionic liquids: fundamentals and challenges is contributed by Qun-xing Luo, Bo-wen An, Min Ji and Jie Zhang. The inside cover features a story on New application of AIEgens realized in photodetectors: reduced work function of transparent electrodes and much improved performance by Lei Feng, Can Wang, Xianyu Deng, Xincheng Miao, Jiaqiang Wang, Yangyang Wang and Zhen Li.

Following review type articles are included in current issue:

Synthesis and properties of open-cage fullerene C₆₀ derivatives: impact of the extended π-conjugation
Yoshifumi Hashikawa, Hidefumi Yasui, Kei Kurotobi and Yasujiro Murata
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 206-213

Single-molecule junctions of π molecules
Y. Komoto, S. Fujii and M. Kiguchi
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 214-218

Multifunctional second barrier layers for lithium–sulfur batteries
Wei Fan, Longsheng Zhang and Tianxi Liu
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 235-252

Electrolyte-gated light-emitting transistors: working principle and applications
Jiang Liu, Fangchao Zhao, Huaping Li and Qibing Pei
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 253-263

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Welcome to issue 1 of Materials Chemistry Frontiers!

27 Dec 2017

The latest MaterChemFront issue is published online

The front cover story, Towards monochiral carbon nanotubes: a review of progress in the sorting of single-walled carbon nanotubes is contributed by Dawid Janas. The inside cover features a story on Photothermal effect: an important aspect for the enhancement of photocatalytic activity under illumination by NIR radiation by Gururaj M. Neelgund and Aderemi Oki.

Following review type articles are included in current issue:

Recent progress in interface engineering of organic thin film transistors with self-assembled monolayers
Danqing Liu and Qian Miao
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 11-21

Copper matrix nanocomposites based on carbon nanotubes or graphene
Dawid Janas and Barbara Liszka
Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 22-35

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Welcome to issue 12 of Materials Chemistry Frontiers!

01 Dec 2017

The latest MaterChemFront issue is published online

The front cover story, Cyanopyridone flanked the tetraphenylethylene to generate an efficient, three-dimensional small molecule non-fullerene electron acceptor is contributed by Anushri Rananaware, Akhil Gupta, Gajanan Kadam, Duong Duc La, Ante Bilic, Wanchun Xiang, Richard A. Evans and Sheshanath V. Bhosale. The inside cover features a story on Improved microwave absorption and electromagnetic interference shielding properties based on graphene–barium titanate and polyvinylidene fluoride with varying content by Ao-Ping Guo, Xiao-Juan Zhang, Jia-Kang Qu, Shan-Wen Wang, Jia-Qiang Zhu, Guang-Sheng Wang and Lin Guo.

Following review type articles are included in current issue:

Design and effective synthesis methods for high-performance polymer semiconductors in organic field-effect transistors
Longxian Shi, Yunlong Guo, Wenping Hu and Yunqi Liu
Mater. Chem. Front., 2017,1, 2423-2456
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C7QM00169J

Designing hybrid architectures for advanced thermoelectric materials
Yun Zheng, Yubo Luo, Chengfeng Du, Beibei Zhu, Qinghua Liang, Huey Hoon Hng, Kedar Hippalgaonkar, Jianwei Xu and Qingyu Yan
Mater. Chem. Front., 2017,1, 2457-2473
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C7QM00306D

Recent advances in AIEgen-based luminescent metal–organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks
Li Ma, Xiao Feng, Shan Wang and Bo Wang
Mater. Chem. Front., 2017,1, 2474-2486
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C7QM00254H

Late transition metal catalyzed α-olefin polymerization and copolymerization with polar monomers
Lihua Guo, Wenjing Liu and Changle Chen
Mater. Chem. Front., 2017,1, 2487-2494
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C7QM00321H

Understanding and suppressing side reactions in Li–air batteries
Ying Liu, Liping Wang, Lujie Cao, Chaoqun Shang, Zhenyu Wang, Hongen Wang, Liqing He, Jingyi Yang, Hua Cheng, Jingze Li and Zhouguang Lu
Mater. Chem. Front., 2017,1, 2495-2510
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C7QM00353F

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Purity of organic semiconductors substantially increase the performance of organic transistors

Lithium-based Batteries – A collection of articles from Materials Chemistry Frontiers

Functional conjugated organic molecules – A collection of articles from Frontiers Journals

Welcome to Issue 4 of Materials Chemistry Frontiers in 2018!

Welcome to issue 2 of Materials Chemistry Frontiers!

Welcome to issue 1 of Materials Chemistry Frontiers!

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