Copper as a Robust and Transparent Electrocatalyst for Water Oxidation

Copper metal is in theory a viable oxidative electrocatalyst based on surface oxidation to Cu^III and/or Cu^IV, but its use in water oxidation has been impeded by anodic corrosion. The in situ formation of an efficient interfacial oxygen‐evolving Cu catalyst from Cu^II in concentrated carbonate solutions is presented. The catalyst necessitates use of dissolved Cu^II and accesses the higher oxidation states prior to decompostion to form an active surface film, which is limited by solution conditions. This observation and restriction led to the exploration of ways to use surface‐protected Cu metal as a robust electrocatalyst for water oxidation. Formation of a compact film of CuO on Cu surface prevents anodic corrosion and results in sustained catalytic water oxidation. The Cu/CuO surface stabilization was also applied to Cu nanowire films, which are transparent and flexible electrocatalysts for water oxidation and are an attractive alternative to ITO‐supported catalysts for photoelectrochemical applications.     

Silver metallation of hen egg white lysozyme: X-ray crystal structure and NMR studies

The X-ray crystal structure, NMR binding studies, and enzyme activity of silver(I) metallated hen egg white lysozyme are presented. Primary bonding of silver is observed through His15 with secondary bonding interactions coming from nearby Arg14 and Asp87. A covalently bound nitrate completes a four coordinate binding pocket.     

Silver-tracer diffusion in Cu2O

The diffusion of¹¹⁰Ag in Cu₂O has been measured by a serial-sectioning technique as a function of temperature (700–1132°C) and oxygen partial pressure (6 × 10^?6 ?8 × 10^?2 atm). The data are fit to the defect model for Cu₂O developed by the authors in the preceding paper. Silver ions have a larger impurity-vacancy binding free energy and/or a larger jump frequency for the singly charged cation vacancies relative to that for the neutral cation vacancies. The activation enthalpies for the diffusion of copper and silver ions in Cu₂O are nearly equal, but the absolute value of D¹_Ag is about three times larger than D¹_Cu even though the silver ion is 31% larger than the copper ion.     

Optical absorption band edge in single-crystal GeS

The absorption band edge of single-crystal orthorhombic GeS has been measured in all three polarizations at 4.2, 77 and 300°K. Strong excitonic absorption is observed for E ∥ a, and the transitions in this direction are identified as direct-allowed. Transitions in the E ∥ b and E ∥ c polarizations are tentatively identified as direct forbidden and direct allowed, respectively, with values for E_g similar to those found for E ∥ a. Evidence for the partially two-dimen?ional character of GeS is discussed.     

Random grafting statistics in graft distribution analysis

Graft distribution functions have been derived from random grafting statistics. Among the functions, the weight fraction of ungrafted backbone chains, the molecular weight distribution of the ungrafted backbone chains and the GPC apparent molecular weight distribution of the graft copolymer have been found to agree with experimental values determined for a graft copolymer system in which grafting was expected to be random. The other functions, which are not directly measurable, are therefore probably also correct. In analytical work the entire set of graft distribution functions may be computed for a graft copolymer system from the following experimental data: (1) molecular weight distribution of the starting backbone chains; (2) the chemical composition of the mixture of the graft copolymer and ungrafted backbone; (3) the graft side-chain molecular weight distribution, which may be assumed to be identical to that of the ungrafted homopolymer separable from the reaction mixture.     

51V nuclear spin-lattice relaxation in V0.75-xGa0.25+x

Nuclear spin-lattice relaxation-time measurements of ⁵¹V in A-15-phase V_0.75-xGa_0.25+x have been made in both well-annealed and neutron-irradiated samples. A tight-binding analysis of the results indicates a strong correlation of T_c with the density of states at the Fermi level in the δ-subbands.     

Understanding the role of oxidative etching in the polyol synthesis of Pd nanoparticles with uniform shape and size

Uniform cubooctahedral nanoparticles of Pd were synthesized using a modified polyol process. Like the silver system, the Pd nanoparticles underwent dissolution due to oxidative etching by Cl-/O2. In the early stage of etching, the twinned particles in a sample were selectively removed to leave behind uniform, single-crystal cubooctahedra. If the etching was allowed to continue, the single-crystal cubooctahedra were also attacked and partially dissolved. Understanding the role of oxidative etching is critical to the achievement of both uniform shape and size.