The ring-opening process was generally considered as the rate-determining step for aromatic volatile organic compound photocatalytic degradation. A sophisticated and intensive degradation pathway is critical to the poor removal efficiency and low mineralization. In the present contribution, we successfully tailored and identified the ring-opening pathway of toluene elimination by electron delocalization in a borocarbonitride photocatalyst. By means of modulation of the dopant coordination configuration and electron geometry in the catalyst, the lone electrons of carbon transform into delocalized counterparts, sequentially elevating the interaction between the toluene molecules and photocatalyst. The aromatic ring of toluene can be attacked directly in the effect of electron delocalization without engendering additional intermediate species, significantly facilitating the removal and mineralization of toluene. This unprecedented route-control strategy alters the aromatic-ring-based reaction behavior from toluene to CO2 and paves a way to purify the refractory pollutants from the top design.

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Natural rubber (NR) with proteins and lipids has superior mechanical properties to its synthetic counterpart, polyisoprene rubber. However, it is a challenge to unravel the morphology of proteins and lipids. Here we used two-color stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) to directly visualize the spatial organization of proteins and lipids in NR. We found that the proteins and lipids form an interdispersed stabilizing layer on the surface of NR latex particles. After drying, the proteins and lipids form aggregates of up to 300 nm in diameter. The aggregates physically interact with the terminal groups of polyisoprene chains, leading to the formation of a network, which contributes to the high elasticity and mechanical property of NR. If we remove proteins in NR, the large phospholipid aggregates disintegrate into small ones. However, it does not decompose the network but rather reduces the effective cross-linking density, thus the deproteinized NR is still elastic-like with decreased mechanical property. Removing both proteins and lipids wholly decomposes the network, thus, results in a liquid-like behavior of the rubber. The STORM measurements in this paper enable more insight into the structure-property relationship of NR, which also shows a great potential of STORM in studying the fine structure of polymeric materials and nanocomposites.