Theoretical study of a novel imino bridged pillar[5]arene derivative

Hybrid Plasmonic Fiber-Optic Sensors

With the increasing demand of achieving comprehensive perception in every aspect of life, optical fibers have shown great potential in various applications due to their highly-sensitive, highly-integrated, flexible and real-time sensing capabilities. Among various sensing mechanisms, plasmonics based fiber-optic sensors provide remarkable sensitivity benefiting from their outstanding plasmon-matter interaction. Therefore, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and localized SPR (LSPR)-based hybrid fiber-optic sensors have captured intensive research attention. Conventionally, SPR- or LSPR-based hybrid fiber-optic sensors rely on the resonant electron oscillations of thin metallic films or metallic nanoparticles functionalized on fiber surfaces. Coupled with the new advances in functional nanomaterials as well as fiber structure design and fabrication in recent years, new solutions continue to emerge to further improve the fiber-optic plasmonic sensors' performances in terms of sensitivity, specificity and biocompatibility. For instance, 2D materials like graphene can enhance the surface plasmon intensity at the metallic film surface due to the plasmon-matter interaction. Two-dimensional (2D) morphology of transition metal oxides can be doped with abundant free electrons to facilitate intrinsic plasmonics in visible or near-infrared frequencies, realizing exceptional field confinement and high sensitivity detection of analyte molecules. Gold nanoparticles capped with macrocyclic supramolecules show excellent selectivity to target biomolecules and ultralow limits of detection. Moreover, specially designed microstructured optical fibers are able to achieve high birefringence that can suppress the output inaccuracy induced by polarization crosstalk and meanwhile deliver promising sensitivity. This review aims to reveal and explore the frontiers of such hybrid plasmonic fiber-optic platforms in various sensing applications.

Conjugated Carbonyl Polymer-Based Flexible Cathode for Superior Lithium-Organic Batteries

Conjugated carbonyl compounds are deemed as high theoretical capacity and green electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) but are limited by their high dissolution and poor electronic conductivity. In this paper, we have successfully synthesized a series of multicarbonyl conjugated polymers using the coupling polymerization reaction and then constructed carbonyl-conjugated polymer/carbon nanotube hybrid films by a vacuum-filtration method. Importantly, the hybrid films could serve as a flexible, binder-free, and free-standing organic cathode for LIBs, which could deliver a high reversible discharge capacity of 142.3 mAh g^-1 at 50 mA g^-1, good cycling stability with a capacity retention of 74.6% at 500 mA g^-1 after 300 cycles, and excellent rate capability of 120.6 mAh g^-1 at 1000 mA g^-1. In addition, the theoretical calculation has proved that the symmetrical conjugated structure can well accommodate four Li⁺ ions during the electrochemical reaction. Interestingly, the assembled full cell and flexible battery can power the small devices, suggesting its potential to use in bendable or wearable energy-storages devices.