On October 27th, 2016, the Member of United States National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for Advancement of Science and the distinguished Professor of Utah University, Prof. Cynthia J. Burrows visited Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) and was invited to give the ZHANG Dayu lecture (XXIII). The title of her lecture was “Using Nanopores to Interrogate DNA: Examining Base Modifications and Unfolding Dynamics in Single Molecules”. The lecture was hosted by Prof. Keli Han. Prof. Guowang Xu, the assistant director of DICP awarded Cynthia J. Burrows the “Zhang Dayu Lectureship” certificate and granted her as an honorary Professor of DICP.
　　 
　　Her lecture focuses on the chemical mechanisms of DNA modification. Her laboratory has characterized new oxidation products of guanosine and uncovered unusual biochemical phenomena related to DNA and RNA modification and repair. Recent focal points include the study of G-quadruplex-forming sequences in promoter and telomeric regions of the genome, the application of single-molecule methods to examine DNA modifications in protein nanopores, and an interest in DNA and RNA photochemistry relevant to the origins of life.
　　After the lecture, Prof. Cynthia J. Burrows visited the State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Laboratory of Aerospace Catalysts and New Materials and Laboratory of Biotechnology. She also has an active discussion with faculty and staff at DICP. (Text by DING Junxia, Photo by LI Huageng)
　　

　　The installation process of the main body of the comprehensive experimental device based on tunable Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) coherent light source-Dalian Coherent Light Source (DCLS) has completed on September 24, 2016.
　　After strictly system installation project acceptance of relevant experts, the project experts began the free electron laser amplifier light debugging at 21:30, the whole debugging process went very smoothly. At 22:50, high-quality pulsed electron beams with more than 300 Mev energy passed through all the elements of the free electron laser amplifier, the first beam of ultraviolet light was emitted through the 18-meter wave oscillator array.
　　DCLS is the only user FEL facility operating exclusively in the EUV wavelength region in the world, and it is also the first free electronic laser large scientific user device of our country. After debugging, this device will produce the world's brightest EUV beam. Each laser pulse of the light source can emit more than 10 trillion photons with wavelengths continuously adjustable from 50nm to 150nm, with complete coherence. This light source can be widely applied in chemical, physical, biological, energy, materials, environmental and other important scientific fields.
　　Figure 1. Dalian coherent light linear accelerator(Imaged by ZHANG Weiqing)
　　DCLS is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and jointly developed by Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics and Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, CAS. This project was launched in early 2012, and started building in October 22, 2014. The main infrastructure projects and the main light source device development is completed in less than two years since the start, which creates a new record of the construction of similar large-scale scientific facilities. This project also created a precedent for the successful cooperation between scientific research experts and experts in the development of large scientific devices.
　　Figure 2. Dalian coherent light source undulator(Imaged by ZHANG Weiqing)
　　DCLS team will cooperate closer on the basis of existing work, and manages to finish the parameter optimization and beam line station debugging in the near future, to achieve the design targets for scientific research to provide high-quality extreme ultraviolet light source as soon as possible. (Text by CHEN Shuling, HUANG Jiayu , Imaged by ZHANG Weiqing)
　　Figure 3. The first beam of ultraviolet light of DCLS (from DCLS)
　　Dr. LU Xinyi
　　Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
　　457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023, China,
　　Tel: 86-411-84379201,
　　E-mail: luxinyi@dicp.ac.cn 

　　On July 01, 2016, the Member of United States National Academy of Sciences, Vladimir N. Ipatieff Professor of Catalysis from Northwestern University, Prof. Tobin J. Marks visited Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP). He delivered a ZHANG Dayu lecture presentation titled as “Strategies for Biofeedstock Conversions via Tandem Catalysis”.
　　 
　　This lecture focuses on thermodynamics/mechanism-based strategies for converting abundant biofeedstocks into useful fuels and chemicals. New approaches to the hydrogenolysis of the ubiquitous C-O bonds include selective hydrogenolysis of cyclic and linear etheric C-O bonds by tandem catalytic systems consisting of recyclable metal triflates and supported hydrogenation catalysts, in either ionic liquid solvents or in the neat substrates. Kinetic and DFT computational studies show that the turnover-limiting step in these reactions is the retro-hydroalkoxylation, followed by rapid alkenol hydrogenation. The metal triflate catalytic activity scales approximately with the DFT-computed charge density on the metal ion. With the most active catalysts, ethereal substrates are rapidly converted, via the alkenol, to the corresponding saturated hydrocarbons. In similar tandem processes, esters and triglycerides are also rapidly and selectively converted, ultimately, to C3 hydrocarbons and biodiesel esters. The kinetics and mechanism of these ester hydrogenolysis processes, as deduced by combined experimental results and DFT computation, are compared and contrasted with those of the corresponding ethers.
　　The presentation was hosted by Prof. LI Can. On behalf of DICP, Prof. YANG Xueming, the vice Director of DICP, awarded Prof. Tobin J. Marks the “ZHANG Dayu Lectureship” certificate and granted him as an honorary Professor of DICP. (Text by GUO Xin, Photo by LI Dan)
　　

　　The 16th International Congress on Catalysis (ICC 16) was held from 3rd July to 8th July, 2016 at China National Convention Center in Beijing. More than 2500 people from over 50 countries participate in this congress. Prof. LI Can is the chairman and prof. SHEN Wenjie is the secretary general of the congress. It is the first time that the International Congress on Catalysis held in China since 1956.
　　Prof. LI Can, Prof. Avelino Corma, Prof. BAO Xinhe and Dr. XIE Zaiku addressed the speeches at the opening ceremony in the morning of 4 July. The theme of the ICC 16 is Catalysis for the Sustainable Development of the World. The scope of the congress topic mainly focuses on the crucial roles of catalysis science and technology in (1) clean and efficient production and utilization of traditional fossil resources, (2) development of renewable energies, and (3) abating/eliminating environmental pollutants to reach the low carbon emission economy. The ICC 16 features more than 300 talks, including 5 plenary lectures, 2 award lectures , 18 keynote lectures, and 81 invited lectures, more than 200 oral and about 1800 poster presentations. There are 6 parallel sessions covering all aspects of topics in catalysis, including catalysis for energy, catalytic materials, catalysis for energy/catalytic mechanisms, environmental catalysis/industrial catalysis, electrocatalysis/catalysis for chemical synthesis/photocatalysis and biomass conversion/oxidation reactions/carbon-based catalysts, etc.
　　 
　　The International Congress on Catalysis is the largest conference in catalysis, which is held every four years since 1956 with usually more than 2,000 participants from the world, and has been recognized as the most prestigious conference on catalysis in the world.（Text and Image by HU Linyan）

　　Simultaneous conversion and storage of solar energy has been coming into the spotlight as a promising strategy for continuous utilization of solar energy. Solar rechargeable flow cell (SRFC) provides an attractive approach for in-situ capture and storage of intermittent solar energy via photoelectrochemical regeneration of discharged redox species for electricity generation. However, overall SFRC performance is restricted by inefficient photoelectrochemical reactions.
　　Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) and Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy (DNL) research teams led by Prof. LI Can, Dr. SHI Jingying and Prof. CHEN Jian developed a solar rechargeable flow cell for in-situ solar energy capture and storage. They found an efficient SRFC based on a dual-silicon photoelectrochemical cell and a quinone/bromine redox flow battery for in-situ solar energy conversion and storage.
　　Researchers Develop a Solar Rechargeable Flow Cell for in-situ Solar Energy Capture and Storage (Image by LIAO Shichao and SHI Jingying)
　　Using narrow bandgap silicon for efficient photon collection and fast redox couples for rapid interface charge injection, the device shows an optimal solar-to-chemical conversion efficiency of 5.9%. It also exhibits an overall photon–chemical–electricity energy conversion efficiency of 3.2%. The proposed SRFC can be self-photocharged to 0.8 V and delivers a discharge capacity of 730 mAh-1. It may guide future designs for highly efficient solar rechargeable devices.
　　This work was published on Nature Communications (DOI:10.1038/ncomms11474). (Text/Image by LIAO Shichao and SHI Jingying)
　　Contact:
　　Dr. LU Xinyi
　　Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
　　457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023, China,
　　Tel: 86-411-84379201,
　　E-mail: luxinyi@dicp.ac.cn 
　　

　　On April 25th, the Member of United States National Academy of Sciences Professor William A. Goddard III, visited Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics. He gave a lecture on “Quantum mechanics based mechanisms for selective catalytic reactions”, authorized by XXI Zhang Dayu Lectureship of DICP.
　　The presentation illustrates the applications of the Quantum Mechanics methods to catalytic systems, including： i) the reaction mechanism for the electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction on Pt(111) and Pt alloys; ii) critical potentials for CO2 reduction on Cu (100) and (111) surfaces; iii) the reaction mechanism for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) on metal oxides electrocatalysts; iv) The reaction mechanism for the selective catalysis of heterogeneous catalysts. Following the lecture, some deep discussions about the related topic mentioned in the presentation were made and Professor Goddard warmly answered many questions and also gave some effective suggestion.
　　Prof. William A. Goddard III gave a lecture on “Quantum mechanics based mechanisms for selective catalytic reactions”(Image by LIU Wansheng)
　　Prof. William A. Goddard III is the Charles and Mary Ferkel Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science, and Applied Physics, and the Director of Materials and Process Simulation Center (MSC) in California Institute of Technology. The presentation was hosted by Prof. DENG Weiqiao. On the behalf of DICP, Prof. YANG Xueming, the Deputy Director of DICP, awarded Prof. William A. Goddard III the “Zhang Dayu Lectureship” certificate and granted him as an honorary Professor of DICP. (Text by YANG Ruixia/ Image by LIU Wansheng and YANG Bin)
　　Prof. YANG Xueming awarded Prof. William A. Goddard III the “Zhang Dayu Lectureship” certificate and granted him as an honorary Professor of DICP （Image by LIU Wansheng）
　　Contact:
　　Dr. LU Xinyi
　　Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
　　457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023, China,
　　Tel: 86-411-84379201,
　　E-mail: luxinyi@dicp.ac.cn