Iridium (Ir)(III) complexes with sufficient luminous efficiency and narrow full width at half maxima (FWHM) are required urgently for realizing organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) simultaneously with high electroluminescence efficiency and good color purity. In this work, three novel main ligands incorporating the peripheral large steric hindrance units and rigid structures for efficiently suppressing the intermolecular stacking effect, restricting the intramolecular relaxation and reducing the concentration quenching are developed. The corresponding Ir(III) complexes exhibit emission peaks at 618, 609 and 621 nm, short phosphorescence lifetimes around 1 μs, high photoluminescence quantum yields of 80–90% and a narrow FWHM of 40 nm in solution. Moreover, the devices based on these Ir(III) complexes show superior performances with the Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage color coordinates of (x = 0.63–0.64 and y = 0.32–0.35), close to the standard red emission required by the National Television System Committee. In particular, the device using Ir-2CF₃ exhibits the best performances with a maximum luminance of 38 277 cd m⁻², a maximum current efficiency of 47.85 cd A⁻¹, and a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE_max) up to 32.0% as well as extremely low efficiency roll-off with an EQE of 30.8% at 1000 cd m⁻², which are among the best results ever reported for pure red OLEDs using Ir(III) complexes. Therefore, the design of main ligands by modulating the peripheral large steric hindrance provides an effective strategy for realizing efficient Ir(III) complex-based OLEDs simultaneously with narrow emission and high efficiency.

The structure and composition of nanofillers have a significant influence on polyamide nanofiltration (NF) membranes. In this work, an asymmetric organic nanobowl containing a concave cavity was synthesized and incorporated into a polyamide layer to prepare thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes via an interfacial polymerization process. Benefiting from the hydrophilicity, hollow cavity and charge property of the compatible organic nanobowls, the separation performance of the developed TFN membrane was significantly improved. The corresponding water fluxes increased to 119.44 ± 5.56, 141.82 ± 3.24 and 130.27 ± 2.05 L/(m²·h) toward Na₂SO₄, MgCl₂ and NaCl solutions, respectively, with higher rejections, compared with the control thin film composite (TFC) and commercial (CM) membranes. Besides this, the modified TFN membrane presented a satisfying purification performance toward tap water, municipal effluent and heavy metal wastewater. More importantly, a better antifouling property of the TFN membrane than TFC and CM membranes was achieved with the assistance of organic nanobowls. These results indicate that the separation performance of the TFN membrane can be elevated by the incorporation of organic nanobowls.

Cadmium (Cd), as a type of heavy metal, can increase the incidence of many diseases, even in low concentrations. In this study, tobermorite was hydrothermally synthesized and then applied to adsorb Cd²⁺ from an aqueous solution. The physicochemical characteristics of the synthesized tobermorite were detected, and the results indicated that the well-crystallized tobermorite had a lot of mesopores and a large specific surface area of 140.92 m²/g. It acquired a pH self-adjustment ability via spontaneously releasing Ca²⁺ and OH^- into the aqueous solution. The effects of different factors on Cd²⁺ removal were investigated. For Cd²⁺, the removal efficiency could reach 99.71% and the maximum adsorption capacity was 39.18 mg/g using tobermorite. The adsorption data was best fitted with the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm models. In addition, there was no strict limit on the solution pH in Cd²⁺ adsorption because the tobermorite could adjust the solution pH to an alkaline atmosphere spontaneously. The efficient removal of Cd²⁺ using tobermorite was a result of surface complexation and ion exchange.

Ciprofloxacin (CIP), a compound with bioaccumulation toxicity and antibiotic resistance, is frequently detected in water at alarming concentrations, which is becoming an increasing concern. In this study, a low-cost ceramsite was developed from industrial solid wastes through sintering to remove CIP from wastewater. The effects of adsorbent dosage, initial pH, contact time, initial CIP concentration, and temperature were explored. More than 99% of CIP (20–60 mg/L) was removed at around pH 2–4 by the ceramsite. The kinetic data fitted well with the pseudo-second-order model, revealing that chemisorption was the main rate-determining step. The isotherm data was better described by the Freundlich model, suggesting that CIP was removed by the formation of multiple layers on the heterogeneous surface. Moreover, the removal efficiency was practically higher than 95% during five regeneration cycles, when different regeneration methods were used, including calcination, HCl, and NaOH washing, indicating that the ceramsite exhibited outstanding reusability in removing CIP. The primary mechanism of CIP removal by the ceramsite was found to be the synergism of adsorption and flocculation, both of which depended on the release of Ca²⁺ from the ceramsite. In addition, strong Ca-CIP complexes could be formed through surface complexation and metal cation bridging between Ca²⁺ and different functional groups in CIP.