General Synthesis of <i>N</i>‑CF₃ Heteroaryl Amides via Successive Fluorination and Acylation of Sterically Hindered Isothiocyanates

We report the one-pot synthesis of N-CF3 heteroaryl amides (NTFMHA) from heteroaryl carboxylic acids and sterically hindered isothiocyanates, including various amino acid analogues, in the presence of AgF. The key to this reaction is the utilization of free heteroaryl acyl chlorides, rather than their corresponding hydrochloride salts. This method represents a complementary method of our previous work and enables modification to a variety of previously inaccessible structures, including α-tertiary amines and N-CF3-modified pharmaceuticals

Suppressing the Coffee-Ring Effect in Semitransparent MnO₂ Film for a High-Performance Solar-Powered Energy Storage Window

We introduce a simple and effective method to deposit a highly uniform and semitransparent MnO₂ film without coffee-ring effect (CRE) by adding ethanol into MnO₂ ink for transparent capacitive energy storage devices. By carefully controlling the amount of ethanol added in the MnO₂ droplet, we could significantly reduce the CRE and thus improve the film uniformity. The electrochemical properties of supercapacitor (SC) devices using semitransparent MnO₂ film electrodes with or without CRE were measured and compared. The SC device without CRE shows a superior capacitance, high rate capability, and lower contact resistance. The CRE-free device could achieve a considerable volumetric capacitance of 112.2 F cm^–3, resulting in a high volumetric energy density and power density of 10 mWh cm^–3 and 8.6 W cm^–3, respectively. For practical consideration, both flexible SC and large-area rigid SC devices were fabricated to demonstrate their potential for flexible transparent electronic application and capacitive energy-storage window application. Moreover, a solar-powered energy storage window which consists of a commercial solar cell and our studied semitransparent MnO₂-film-based SCs was assembled. These SCs could be charged by the solar cell and light up a light emitting diode (LED), demonstrating their potential for self-powered systems and energy-efficient buildings

PMMA@TiO₂@SiO₂ Composite Microsphere with Sufficiently High Light Transmittance and Haze for Promising Application in Optical Diffusion Film

The increasing demand for improving the performance of optical devices and the development of nanotechnology have driven research on diffusion films. The preparation of diffusion films with well-defined microstructures can achieve uniform diffusion and scattering of light, thereby improving the efficiency and performance of optical devices. In this study, diffusion films with high transmittance and haze were prepared using PMMA@TiO2@SiO2 (P@T@S) composite microspheres, and the PMMA microspheres and nanoparticles were combined through electrostatic attraction. As compared with PMMA microspheres, the P@T@S composite microspheres displayed better heat resistance as well as swelling resistance. Optical performance data showed that the P@T@S diffusion film had the perfect optical performance with a transmittance up to 90.5% and a haze of 88.3%. The excellent light diffusion effect of the P@T@S diffusion film was experimentally demonstrated, with the light through the film not only displaying the largest area but also maintaining a relatively high brightness. Our findings can provide reference and guidance for further development of light diffusion films, which are of potential application in optoelectronic devices