Amorphous High-Entropy Hydroxides of Tunable Wide Solar Absorption for Solar Water Evaporation

The high-entropy materials have raised much attention in recent years due to their extraordinary performances in mechanical, catalysis, energy storage fields. Herein, a new type of high-entropy hydroxides (e.g., NiFeCoMnAl(OH)_x) that are amorphous and capable of broad solar absorption is reported. A facile one-pot co-precipitation method is employed to synthesize these amorphous high-entropy hydroxides (a-HEHOs) under ambient conditions. The a-HEHOs thus obtained display widely tunable bandgap (e.g., from 2.6 to 1.1 eV) due to their high-entropy and amorphous characteristics, enabling efficient light absorbance and photothermal conversion in the solar regime. Further solar water evaporation measurements show that the a-HEHOs delivered a considerable energy conversion efficiency of 55%, comparable to black titanium oxides that are synthesized using more complex and expensive methods.     

Broadband and efficient second harmonic generation in LiNbO3-LiTaO3 composite ridge waveguides at telecom-band

Broadband nonlinear frequency conversions of optical waves are widely employed in multiple areas of optics and photonics. However, the broadening of conversion bandwidth is often at a cost of reduction in efficiency, which may induce a limitation on practical applications. Here we theoretically propose a novel design of LiNbO₃ ridge waveguides on LiTaO₃ substrates which can be used for efficient and broadband second harmonic generation. Through group velocity engineering of the ridge waveguides, acceptance bandwidth over 20 nm with a high conversion efficiency of > 25%W^-1·cm^-2 is achieved at telecom-band.     

Bandgaps and vibration isolation of local resonance sandwich-like plate with simply supported overhanging beam

Applied Mathematics and Mechanics - The concept of local resonance phononic crystals proposed in recent years provides a new chance for theoretical and technical breakthroughs in the structural...     

Reduced Density Matrix and Quantum Correlation in Two-Qubit Quantum Rabi Model

International Journal of Theoretical Physics - In this work, we give an analytical derivation of the reduced density matrix between two qubits in a cavity field, which is described by the quantum...     

Effect of Streamline Curvature on Three-Dimensionality of Transitional Near-Wall Flow in a Linear Hydrofoil Cascade: A DNS Investigation

Flow, Turbulence and Combustion - The laminar flow on a curved surface transits to turbulent induced by streamline curvature which generates pressure gradient field and separated shear layer flow....     

A visible light responsive molecularly imprinted photoelectrochemical sensor for the sensitive detection of BSA

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - A molecularly imprinted photoelectrochemical (PEC) cathodic sensor was developed for the detection of bovine serum albumin (BSA). The PEC sensor was...     

Record-high near-band-edge optical nonlinearities and two-level model correction of poled polymers by spectroscopic electromodulation and ellipsometry

The determination of nonlinearities near the band edge of organic and polymeric electro-optic(EO)materials is important from the viewpoint of molecular nonlinear optics(NLO)and photonic device applications.Based on transmission-mode Stark effect electromodulation(EM)spectroscopy,we study the electric-field-induced changes in optical absorption and refraction of newly developed EO polymers from the visible to near-infrared(NIR)wavelengths and report record-high near-band-edge complex EO effects from poled thin films.Values ofΔn andΔk up to 10^-3 and 10^-2 are found at an applied electric field of 2.0×10⁵-3.0×10⁵V/cm.The study of linear optical properties of poled films by spectroscopic ellipsometry shows large polinginduced birefringence and a nearly two-fold increase in the extinction coefficients at the extraordinary polarization.Through the Kramers-Kronig analysis,we obtained the real and imaginary second-order nonlinear coefficients up to~3,500 and~5,600 pm/V,respectively,which are believed to be the highest NLO coefficients of poled polymers through the resonance enhancement.Our approach goes beyond the previous works,applicable only to several discrete wavelengths,to a full-spectral analysis with independent verification of slab waveguide measurements.By considering both the electroabsorption and electrorefraction effects,our study overcomes the limitation of the classic qualitative two-level model and provides a quantitative understanding of near-resonance optical nonlinearities of organic EO materials.It can inspire the exploration of high-speed,absorptive,or phase-shifting light-modulators using EO polymers for on-chip applications.     

System scan of the multiplicity correlation between forward and backward rapidities in relativistic heavy-ion collisions using a multi-phase transport model

A systematic study on forward–backward (FB) multiplicity correlations from large systems to small ones through a multi-phase transport model (AMPT) has been performed and the phenomenon that correlation strength increases with centrality can be explained by taking the distribution of events as the superposition of a series of Gaussian distributions. It is also found that correlations in the \begin{document}$ \eta -\phi $\end{document} plane can imply the shape of the event. Furthermore, long-range correlations originate from the fluctuations associated with the source information. FB correlations allow us to decouple long-range correlations from short-range correlations, and may provide a chance to investigate the α-clustering structure in initial colliding light nuclei as well. It seems the tetrahedron ¹⁶O + ¹⁶O collision gives a more uniform and symmetrical fireball, that emits the final particles more isotropically or independently in the longitudinal direction, indicating that the forward–backward multiplicity correlation could be used to identify the pattern of α-clustered ¹⁶O in future experiments.     

利用空间位阻和氢溢流协同作用促进5-羟甲基糠醛选择性加氢制备5-甲基糠醛

化学工业生产中，用氢气为还原剂，通过选择性加氢可以制备多种重要化学品。5-羟甲基糠醛是重要的生物质基平台化合物，而5-甲基糠醛是用途广泛的化学品。由5-羟甲基糠醛加氢得到5-甲基糠醛是一条非常理想的路径，但是选择性活化C-OH非常困难。本文设计并制备了Pt@PVP/Nb₂O₅(PVP: 聚乙烯吡咯烷酮)催化剂，该催化体系巧妙地结合了位阻效应、氢溢流和催化剂界面的电子效应，系统研究了该催化剂对5-羟甲基糠醛选择性加氢制备5-甲基糠醛催化性能，在最优条件下，5-甲基糠醛的选择性可达92%。利用密度泛函理论计算研究了5-羟甲基糠醛选择性加氢制备5-甲基糠醛反应路径。