Yuzhen Li

Poly(mono-, bi- or trifuran): effect of oligomer chain length on the electropolymerization performances and polymer properties

Most recently, oligo-/polyfurans have regained widely attention due to their unique properties and promising applications in organic electronics. Herein, to acquire a thorough fundamental understanding of the electrosynthesis and properties of polyfuran (PFu) from different initial oligomers, the synthesis, fluorescence, and electropolymerization performances of α-oligofurans, namely furan (Fu), bifuran (2Fu), trifuran (3Fu), were comprehensively reported and the effect of oligomer chain length on the structure and properties of the resulting PFu films were evaluated. The oligofurans introduced here revealed higher fluorescence efficiency (0.05 for Fu, 0.19 for 2Fu and 0.27 for 3Fu) than the corresponding oligothiophenes and oligoselenophenes. The onset oxidation potential of oligofurans decreased obviously (1.25 V for Fu, 0.8 V for 2Fu, and 0.7 V for 3Fu) with the chain length of the starting monomers increasing, thus leading to the electrodeposition of high quality free-standing PFu films with improved optoelectronic properties. Structure characterization and properties of the as-formed PFu from different initial oligomers, including FT-IR, UV-vis, surface morphology, fluorescence, electroactivity and stability, electrochromic properties, etc., were systematically investigated and comprehensively discussed.

Magnetic nanoporous hybrid carbon from core–shell metal–organic frameworks for glycan extraction

Magnetic nanoporous carbon (NPC) materials, which can be thoroughly separated from an aqueous solution easily, are very promising adsorbents. In this study, magnetic nanoporous hybrid carbon materials were synthesized as a novel enrichment platform for glycan analysis using core–shell metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as a sacrificial template and carbon precursor. The designed and synthesized magnetic nanoporous hybrid carbon materials possessed hybrid merits, including high surface area, cut-off effect of uniform pore size, high graphitic carbon content and strong magnetic response. Considering the specific interaction between graphitized carbons and glycan, the magnetic nanoporous hybrid carbon materials with good repeatability were successfully used to enrich N-glycans from both standard protein digests and human serum.

[1,2,5]Chalcogenodiazolo[3,4-c]pyridine and selenophene based donor–acceptor–donor electrochromic polymers electrosynthesized from high fluorescent precursors

Conjugated polymers containing selenophene have received attention due to their unique properties and promising application in organic electronics. Herein, to further improve the optoelectronic properties, two typical selenophenes containing [1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-c]pyridine (PT)/[1,2,5]selenadiazolo[3,4-c]pyridine (PS) were synthesized by a donor–acceptor strategy and electropolymerized to form the donor–acceptor–donor polymers. The two precursors exhibited yellow and red emission characteristics with high quantum yields (∼0.48); the value was far greater than those for previously reported selenophenes. Furthermore, electrochromic studies demonstrated that the obtained polymers have superior coloration efficiencies (168 cm−2 C−1) than thiophene based analogues and fast response times (1.6 s).