A nanobiocatalytic system based on the self-assembly of ferrous phosphate with a high regioselectivity nitrile hydratase

Our previous study identified a novel nitrile hydratase (NHase) with remarkable biotransformation activity toward adipamide during the production of 5-cyanovaleramide (5-CVAM), an important intermediate of herbicide and chemical raw material. Nevertheless, free NHase will face harsh conditions if they are applied directly in industrial processes. In this study, we, therefore, prepared Fe3(PO4)2 hybrid nanoflowers for NHase immobilization based on the protein-inorganic hybrid self-assembly by establishing a novel and facile method. The results showed that the NHase@Fe3(PO4)2 nanoflowers had significantly enhanced tolerance to the temperature ranging from 40°C to 60°C when compared with free NHase. The catalytic activity of NHase@Fe3(PO4)2 nanoflowers remained high in extreme pH environments such as weak acid (pH 5) and strong alkali (pH 10) environments. In addition, the storage stability and reusability of encapsulated NHase were also superior to that of free NHase. NHase@Fe3(PO4)2 nanoflowers had a notable feature of high substrate tolerance. We found NHase@Fe3(PO4)2 nanoflowers still had 65% activity as the adiponitrile concentration increased up to 200 mmol L-1, whereas free NHase almost lost their catalytic activity when the adiponitrile concentration was just 100 mmol L-1. All of these results clearly demonstrated that ferrous phosphate nanocrystals might offer a novel strategy for 5-CVAM production with nanobiocatalytic systems.

Adiponitrile (ADN): A Stabilizer for the LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM811) Electrode/Electrolyte Interface of a Graphite/NCM811 Li-Ion Cell

Adiponitrile (ADN) is studied as an additive of commercial carbonate electrolyte for a graphite/NCM811 Li-ion cell in this work. Compared with the cell using a baseline electrolyte, the cycling stability of the cells using 0.2, 0.5, 1, and 2 wt % ADN-added electrolytes is significantly improved. Among them, the effect is most prominent when the ADN content is 0.5 wt %, and the capacity retention rate of the cell after 200 cycles at 0.3 C is increased by 17.6%. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses confirm that ADN can make the coating layer formed on the cathode and anode surfaces of the cell denser and uniform. The formation of the cathodic coating layer does not obey the usual mechanism of adsorption between the nitrile group and metal ions, but it may be due to the polymerization of ADN initiated by carbocations from the oxidation of solvent molecules (ethylene carbonate/ethyl methyl carbonate) in the electrolyte. The cathodic coating layer greatly decreases the oxidation of the electrolyte so that a stable coating layer (also called solid electrolyte interface/SEI) can be formed on the anode, which is the reason for improvement of the cycling performance of the cell. However, the formation of the anode SEI layer is almost independent of ADN, and it still depends on the common reduction reaction of the electrolyte.

Mechanism of Stability Enhancement for Adiponitrile High Voltage Electrolyte System Referring to Addition of Fluoroethylene Carbonate

In order to improve the stability of high voltage electrolyte for 5 V-level LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄ cathode material, adiponitrile (ADN) with high oxidation stability was selected as the main solvent, meanwhile, 2% fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) as the additive with good film forming effect was also used. And then, the effect of 2 mol L⁻¹ LiBF₄-GBL/ADN+2% FEC on the electrochemical performance of LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄ was explored at room temperature. The electrolyte system containing FEC can improve the cycle stability of the battery. At 1 C rate, the cycle capacity retention rate can reach 83% after 100 cycles, while the capacity retention rate of the electrolyte system without FEC and the ordinary commercial electrolyte system is only 77 and 68%, respectively. Besides, the rate performance of the battery with the addition of FEC also shows excellent performance, however, this kind of advantage is not obvious under the conditon of large rate. In addition, under the conditon of the synergistic effect between adiponitrile and fluoroethylene carbonate, the high-voltage electrolyte exhibits the good compatibility and lithium reversibility in the full cell with Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ as the negative electrode.

Adiponitrile at 100 K

Adiponitrile, C₆H₈N₂, is a key intermediate in the synthesis of the polyamide Nylon 66 and is produced industrially on a large scale. We have determined the crystal and molecular structure of adiponitrile by single-crystal X-ray analysis at 100 K, a suitable crystal (m.p. 275 K) having been grown from the melt at low temperature. The compound crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2₁/c with Z = 2. In the crystal structure, the molecule adopts an exact C_i-symmetric gauche-anti-gauche conformation of the C-C-C-C skeleton about an inversion centre. The molecules are densely packed, with short intermolecular contacts between the α-H and nitrile N atoms.