Self-supported metal sulphide nanocrystals-assembled nanosheets on carbon paper as efficient counter electrodes for quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells

Developing efficient counter electrodes (CEs) and quantum dots made of earth-abundant and non-toxic elements is essential but still challenging for quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). Here, we report a facile strategy to prepare self-supported and robust CoS₂ and NiS nanocrystals-assembled nanosheets directly grown on carbon paper (MSx NS@CP) as efficient counter electrodes for QDSSCs. Such CEs integrate the merits of fast electron transfer from interconnected conductive scaffold, efficient mass transfer from hierarchically vertical nanosheet on 3D open substrate, as well as abundant highly active catalytic sites from metal sulphide nanocrystal units. As a result, QDDSCs based on such CoS₂ NS@CP and NiS NS@CP CEs achieve a PCE of 8.88% and 7.53%, respectively. The detailed analyses suggest that CoS₂ NS@CP has the highest catalytic activity and shows the lowest charger transfer resistance, leading to the highest PCE. These findings may inspire the design and exploration of other self-supported efficient CEs by integrating highly active catalysts onto 3D conductive networks for efficient QDSSCs.     

XANES/EPR Evidence of the Oxidation of Nickel(II) Quinolinylpropioamide and Its Application in Csp3−H Functionalization

An in situ generated oxidation species of nickel quinolinylpropioamide intermediate was produced. Characterization by X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and EPR provides complementary insights into this oxidized nickel species. With aliphatic amides and isocyanides as substrates, a nickel-catalyzed facile synthesis of structurally diverse five-membered lactams could be achieved.     

Two-step Estimation for Longitudinal Data When the Working Correlation Matrix is a Linear Combination of Some Known Matrices

Acta Mathematicae Applicatae Sinica, English Series - The generalized estimating equations(GEE) approach is perhaps one of the most widely used methods for longitudinal data analysis. While the GEE...     

An efficient approach to isoquinoline via AgNO3-promoted 6-endo-dig cyclization followed by oxidative elimination of o-alkynylarylaldimines and its application in fluoride recognition

A novel 6-endo-dig cyclization followed by oxidation/elimination of o-alkynylarylaldimines with 4-hydroxybenzylamine was developed for preparation of isoquinolines. The intermediates of this tandem reaction were monitored by mass spectroscopy (MS) to confirm the reaction pathway. This methodology was further applied to the design and synthesis of a novel ratiometric chemosensor for determination of fluoride.     

Improving the gas barrier,mechanical and thermal properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) with molybdenum disulfide nanosheets

New multifunctional materials with both high structural and gas barrier performances are important for a range of applications. Herein we present a one‐step mechanochemical process to prepare molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) nanosheets with hydroxy functional groups that can simultaneously improve mechanical strength, thermal conductivity, and gas permittivity of a polymer composite. By homogeneously incorporating these functionalized MoS₂ nanosheets at low loading of less than 1 vol %, a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) polymer exhibits elongation at break of 154%, toughness of 82 MJ/m³, and in‐plane thermal conductivity of 2.31 W/m K. Furthermore, this composite exhibits significant gas barrier performance, reducing the permeability of helium by 95%. Under fire condition, the MoS₂ nanosheets form thermally stable char, thus enhancing the material's resistance to fire. Hydrogen bonding has been identified as the main interaction mechanism between the nanofillers and the polymer matrix. The present results suggest that the PVA composite reinforced with 2D layered nanomaterial offers great potentials in packaging and fire retardant applications. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019 , 57, 406–414     

Estimation,dependence and stability of solutions of an iterative equation

Aequationes mathematicae - In this paper we study estimation, continuous dependence and Hyers–Ulam stability for continuous solutions of a second order iterative equation. First we give an...     

Enhanced 1T′-Phase Stabilization and Chemical Reactivity in a MoTe2 Monolayer through Contact with a 2D Ca2N Electride

Among the widely studied 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), MoTe₂ has attracted special interest for phase-change applications due to its small 2H-1T′ energy difference, yet a large scale phase transition without structural disruption remains a significant challenge. Recently, an interesting long-range phase engineering of MoTe₂ has been realized experimentally by Ca₂N electride. However, the interface formed between them has not been well understood, and moreover, it remains elusive how the presence of Ca₂N would affect the basal plane reactivity of MoTe₂. To address this, we performed density functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate the potential of tuning the phase stability and chemical reactivity of a MoTe₂ monolayer via interacting with Ca₂N to form a van der Walls heterostructure. We found that the contact nature at the 2H-MoTe₂/Ca₂N interface is Schottky-barrier-free, allowing for the spontaneous electron transfer from Ca₂N to 2H-MoTe₂ to make it strongly n-type doped. Moreover, Ca₂N doping significantly lowers the energy of 1T′-MoTe₂ and dynamically triggers the 2H-to-1T′ transformation. The Ca₂N-induced phase modulation can also be applied to tune the phase energetics of MoS₂ and MoSe₂. Furthermore, using H adsorption as the testing ground, we also find that the H binding on the basal plane of MoTe₂ is enhanced after forming heterostructure with Ca₂N, potentially providing basis for surface modification and other related catalytic applications.     

Demonstration of joule-level chirped pulse amplification based on tiled Ti:sapphire amplifier

A novel tiled Ti:sapphire(Ti:S)amplifier was experimentally demonstrated with>1 J amplified chirped pulse output.Two Ti:S crystals having dimensions of 14 mm×14 mm×25 mm were tiled as the gain medium in a four-pass amplifier.Maximum output energy of 1.18 J was obtained with 2.75 J pump energy.The energy conversion efficiency of the tiled Ti:S amplifier was comparable with a single Ti:S amplifier.The laser pulse having the maximum peak power of 28 TW was obtained after the compressor.Moreover,the influence of the beam gap on the far field was discussed.This novel tiled Ti:S amplifier technique can provide a potential way for 100 PW or EW lasers in the future.     

An Upper Bound for the w-Weak Global Dimension of Pullbacks

Let R be a commutative ring with identity and I0 an ideal of R.We introduce and study the c-weak global dimension c-w.gl.dim(R/I0) of the factor ring R/I0.Let T be a w-linked extension of R,and we also introduce the wR-weak global dimension wR-w.gl.dim(T) of T.We show that the ring T with wR-w.gl.dim(T) =0 is exactly a field and the ring T with wR-w.gl.dim(T) ≤ 1 is exactly a PwRMD.As an application,we give an upper bound for the w-weak global dimension of a Cartesian square (RDTF,M).More precisely,if T is w-linked over R,then w-w.gl.dim(R) ≤ max{wR-w.gl.dim(T) + w-fdR T,c-w.gl.dim(D) + w-fdn D}.Furthermore,for a Milnor square (RDTF,M),we obtain w-w.gl.dim(R) ≤ max{wR-w.gl.dim(T) + w-fdR T,w-w.gl.dim(D) + w-fdR D}.     

The eccentricity enhancement effect of intermediate-mass-ratio-inspirals: dark matter and black hole mass

It was found that dark matter(DM) in an intermediate-mass-ratio-inspiral(IMRI) system has a significant enhancement effect on the orbital eccentricity of a stellar massive compact object, such as a black hole(BH),which may be tested by space-based gravitational wave(GW) detectors, including LISA, Taiji, and Tianqin in future observations. In this paper, we study the enhancement effect of the eccentricity for an IMRI under different DM density profiles and center BH masses. Our results are as follows:(1) in terms of the general DM spike distribution,the enhancement of the eccentricity is basically consistent with the power-law profile, which indicates that it is reasonable to adopt the power-law profile;(2) in the presence of a DM spike, the different masses of the center BH will affect the eccentricity, which provides a new way for us to detect the BH’s mass;and(3) considering the change in the eccentricity in the presence and absence of a DM spike, we find that it is possible to distinguish DM models by measuring the eccentricity at a scale of approximately 105 GM/c2.