Application of advanced nuclear analytical techniques for the electrocatalyst's characterization: Paving the path for mechanistic investigations

As the application of electrocatalyst continues to expand, envisaging the hidden mechanisms occurring at various length scale affecting the catalytic efficiency became important. To enhance the stability of electrocatalyst and reduce the cost, it is of paramount importance to reveal the active site's dynamics (using in situ techniques for getting the real-time information) which directly affect the reactions such as oxygen evolution reaction, hydrogen evolution reaction, and so on. Since such reactions are crucial for many engineering and scientific applications, in situ characterization techniques are required, which could capture such reactions happening at a different length and time scale. This article analyzes the recent progress made in the field of electrocatalyst's characterization using in situ neutron techniques. The article also paves the future path and has delineated the future challenges involved in multiscale correlative techniques (e.g., neutron techniques in the combination of synchrotron or microscopic techniques) used for getting the multiscale (atomic to micrometer range) mechanistic information about the electrocatalyst's working and degradation.     

1,3,5-三(羧基甲氧基)苯镍配位聚合物的合成、晶体结构及性质研究

采用溶剂热法,1,3,5-三(羧基甲氧基)苯为定向配体和乙酸镍反应构筑了一个新型的金属配位聚合物[Ni(TB)₂(H₂O)₂]_n·2H₂O,其中H₃TB=1,3,5-三(羧基甲氧基)苯,通过元素分析、IR及X射线单晶衍射对配合物结构进行表征,并研究其荧光性质、热稳定性及Hirshfeld表面作用力。单晶结构分析表明,该配合物属于三斜晶系,空间群$P \overline{1}$,配合物中心离子Ni(Ⅱ)分别与来自两个水分子上的氧原子及四个不同1,3,5-三(羧基甲氧基)苯配体的羧酸氧原子配位,形成六配位的NiO₆八面体构型,并通过与1,3,5-三(羧基甲氧基)苯配体的氧原子配位不断延伸形成具有孔洞结构的一维链状构型。配合物具有良好的荧光性能和热稳定性。Hirshfeld表面作用分析表明配合物分子中O…H/H…O作用占主导且占比为39.0%,而H…H的作用力占比为25.9%,O…O的作用力占比为13.6%。     

Synthesis of flower-like WS2 by chemical vapor deposition

Flower-like tungsten disulfide (WS₂) with a diameter of 5-10 μm is prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), Raman spectroscopy, and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy are used to characterize its morphological and optical properties, and its growth mechanism is discussed. The key factors for the formation of flower-like WS₂ are determined. Firstly, the cooling process causes the generation of nucleation dislocations, and then the "leaf" growth of flower-like WS₂ is achieved by increasing the temperature.     

Theoretical study of (e,2e) triple differential cross sections of pyrimidine and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol molecules using multi-center distorted-wave method

We report theoretical studies of electron impact triple differential cross sections of two bio-molecules,pyrimidine and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol,in the coplanar asymmetric kinematic conditions with the impact energy of 250 eV and ejected electron energy of 20 eV at three scattering angles of-5°,-10°,and-15°.Present multi-center distorted-wave method well describes the experimental data,which was obtained by performing(e,2e)experiment.The calculations show that the secondary electron produced by the primary impact electron is strongly influenced by the molecular ionic multi-center potential,which must be considered when the low energy electron interacts with DNA analogues.     

白云石制备似立方体状方解石型碳酸钙晶体及其机理研究

以轻烧白云石粉、氯化铵和二氧化碳为原料,在未使用晶型控制剂的情况下,通过蒸氨-沉钙过程制备出了似立方体状碳酸钙。研究了反应温度、溶液中钙离子浓度、通气速率、搅拌速度以及陈化时间对碳酸钙中方解石相含量以及晶体形貌的影响,并探索了沉钙反应的晶型控制机理。结果表明,在反应温度40 ℃、钙离子浓度0.05 mol/L、通碳速率100 mL/min、搅拌速度400 r/min和陈化时间2 h的条件下,制备出形貌规整、粒径分布均匀的似立方体状碳酸钙,平均粒径为5~10 μm。该研究为提升白云石的使用价值、生产高附加价值的碳酸钙产品,以及提高白云石资源的利用率提供理论基础。     

紫色球杆菌视紫红质光谱特性的机器学习研究

近年来，机器学习等人工智能技术被应用于蛋白质工程，其在蛋白质结构、功能预测、催化活性等研究中具有独特优势。在未知蛋白质结构的情况下，将蛋白质序列和功能特性与机器学习相结合，基于序列-活性关系（innovative sequence-activity relationship，ISAR）算法，将蛋白质氨基酸序列数字化，用快速傅里叶变换（fast four transform，FFT）进行预处理，再进行偏最小二乘回归建模，可在数据集较少情况下拟合得到最佳模型。通过机器学习对紫色球杆菌视紫红质（gloeobacter violaceus rhodopsin，GR）的突变体蛋白质氨基酸序列与光谱最大吸收波长进行建模，获得了最佳模型。用最佳索引LEVM760106建模得到的确定系数R² 为0.944，均方误差E为11.64。用小波变换进行的预处理，其R² 虽也约为0.944，但E大于11.64，不及FFT进行的预处理。方法较好地解决了蛋白质序列与功能特性之间的数学建模问题，在蛋白质工程中可为预测更优的突变体提供支持。     

Strategy to mitigate single event upset in 14-nm CMOS bulk FinFET technology

Three-dimensional (3D) TCAD simulations demonstrate that reducing the distance between the well boundary and N-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (NMOS) transistor or P-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (PMOS) transistor can mitigate the cross section of single event upset (SEU) in 14-nm complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) bulk FinFET technology. The competition of charge collection between well boundary and sensitive nodes, the enhanced restoring currents and the change of bipolar effect are responsible for the decrease of SEU cross section. Unlike dual-interlock cell (DICE) design, this approach is more effective under heavy ion irradiation of higher LET, in the presence of enough taps to ensure the rapid recovery of well potential. Besides, the feasibility of this method and its effectiveness with feature size scaling down are discussed.     

Analysis on First-stage Ignition of n-Heptane at Low Temperatures with a Lumped Skeletal Mechanism

Two-stage ignition exists in the low-temperature combustion process of n-heptane and the first-stage ignition also shows a negative temperature coefficient(NTC) phenomenon. To study key reactions and understand chemical principles affecting the first-stage ignition of n-heptane, a lumped skeletal mechanism with 62 species is obtained based on the detailed NUIGMech1.0 mechanism using the directed relation graph method assisted by sensitivity analysis and isomer lumping. The lumped mechanism shows good performance on ignition delay time under wide conditions. The study revealed that the temperature after the first-stage ignition is higher and a larger amount of fuel is consumed at lower initial temperatures. The temperature at the first-stage ignition is relatively insensitive to the initial temperature. Further sensitivity analysis and reaction path analysis carried out based on the lumped mechanism show that the decomposition of RO₂ to produce alkene and HO₂is the most important reaction to inhibit the first-stage ignitions. The chain branching explosion closely related to the first-stage ignition will be terminated when the rate constant for the RO₂ decomposition is larger than that of the isomerization of RO₂ to produce QOOH. The NTC behavior as well as other characteristics of the first-stage ignition can be rationalized from the competition between these two reactions.     

A self-powered and sensitive terahertz photodetection based on PdSe2

With the rapid development of terahertz technology, terahertz detectors are expected to play a key role in diverse areas such as homeland security and imaging, materials diagnostics, biology, medical sciences, and communication. Whereas self-powered, rapid response, and room temperature terahertz photodetectors are confronted with huge challenges. Here, we report a novel rapid response and self-powered terahertz photothermoelectronic (PTE) photodetector based on a low-dimensional material: palladium selenide (PdSe₂). An order of magnitude performance enhancement was observed in photodetection based on PdSe₂/graphene heterojunction that resulted from the integration of graphene and enhanced the Seebeck effect. Under 0.1-THz and 0.3-THz irradiations, the device displays a stable and repeatable photoresponse at room temperature without bias. Furthermore, rapid rise (5.0 μs) and decay (5.4 μs) times are recorded under 0.1-THz irradiation. Our results demonstrate the promising prospect of the detector based on PdSe₂ in terms of air-stable, suitable sensitivity and speed, which may have great application in terahertz detection.