In-situ growth of hybrid NaTi8O13/NaTiO2 nanoribbons on layered MXene Ti3C2 as a competitive anode for high-performance sodium-ion batteries

In the work, we successfully explore a two-step hydrothermal method for scalable synthesis of the hybrid sodium titanate (NaTi₈O₁₃/NaTiO₂) nanoribbons well in-situ formed on the multi-layered MXene Ti₃C₂ (designed as NTO/Ti₃C₂). Benefiting from the inherent structural and componential superiorities, the resulted NTO/Ti₃C₂ composite exhibits long-duration cycling stability and superior rate behaviors when evaluated as a hybrid anode for advanced SIBs, which delivers a reversible and stable capacity of ∼82 mAh/g even after 1900 cycles at 2000 mA/g for SIBs.     

利用超强激光进行深度狄拉克态的可行性研究

多年以来，很多不同的理论预言了深度狄拉克态(DDL)的存在。然而，DDL的存在依然存在很大的争议，急需进行验证。随着超强激光技术的提高，可以利用超强激光把电子加速到相对论能量，也可以产生正负电子对，引发核反应等。强激光所提供的这种极端环境也为探索DDL带来新可能。本文提出一个新的探测DDL的方法，即以原子核的轨道电子俘获寿命在强激光等离子体中的变化为探针，探测DDL是否存在。计算表明，若DDL存在，轨道电子俘获寿命变化可达7个量级，从而有望在现有超强激光条件下探测DDL。     

Brownian motion and thermophoresis effects on unsteady stagnation point flow of Eyring-Powell nanofluid: a Galerkin approach

This article concerns the analysis of an unsteady stagnation point flow of Eyring-Powell nanofluid over a stretching sheet. The influence of thermophoresis and Brownian motion is also considered in transport equations. The nonlinear ODE set is obtained from the governing nonlinear equations via suitable transformations. The numerical experiments are performed using the Galerkin scheme. A tabular form comparison analysis of outcomes attained via the Galerkin approach and numerical scheme (RK-4) is available to show the credibility of the Galerkin method. The numerical exploration is carried out for various governing parameters, namely, Brownian motion, steadiness, thermophoresis, stretching ratio, velocity slip, concentration slip, thermal slip, and fluid parameters, and Hartmann, Prandtl and Schmidt numbers. The velocity of fluid enhances with an increase in fluid and magnetic parameters for the case of opposing, but the behavior is reversed for assisting cases. The Brownian motion and thermophoresis parameters cause an increase in temperature for both cases (assisting and opposing). The Brownian motion parameter provides a drop-in concentration while an increase is noticed for the thermophoresis parameter. All the outcomes and the behavior of emerging parameters are illustrated graphically. The comparison analysis and graphical plots endorse the appropriateness of the Galerkin method. It is concluded that said method could be extended to other problems of a complex nature.     

Belle实验发现新超子和新粲重子

过去一年里,运行在日本高能加速器研究机构的Belle实验在重子研究,尤其是在超子和粲重子研究上取得了一系列重要实验进展,包括发现了两个超子Ξ(16 20)和Ω(20 12)、一个粲重子Ξc(29 30)等新的重子,并首次测量了粲重子Ξc衰变的绝对分支比等,为完善重子谱和深入理解强相互作用性质提供了关键的实验数据。     

阴离子-π复合物(I-·C6F6)的成键分析

最近Anst?ter, et al. 发表了对阴离子-π复合物(I^-·C₆F₆)的第一个定量谱学测量[J. Am. Chem. Soc. 141, 6132 (2019)]，认为成键作用中相关作用占41%，静电作用占23%，得出相关作用占主导的结论. 本研究表明，该文献的“静电作用”中混入了Pauli排斥作用，后者在数值上抵消了前者的作用. 在复合物I^-·C₆F₆中，发现静电作用是相关作用的两倍多，因而阴离子-π复合物中仍应是静电作用占主导.     

鬼成像中一些数学问题

鬼成像是一种与传统成像方式不同的通过光场涨落的高阶关联获得图像信息的新型成像方式。近年来,相比传统成像方式,鬼成像所拥有的一些优点如高灵敏度、超分辨能力、抗散射等,使其在遥感、多光谱成像、热X射线衍射成像等领域得到广泛研究。随着对鬼成像的广泛研究,数学理论和方法在其中发挥的作用愈显突出。例如,基于压缩感知理论,可以进行鬼成像系统采样方式优化、图像重构算法设计及图像重构质量分析等研究工作。本文旨在探索鬼成像中的一些有趣的数学问题,主要包括:系统预处理方法、光场优化及相位恢复问题。对这些问题的研究既可以丰富鬼成像理论,又能推动它在实际应用中的发展。     

Co-Assembly between Fmoc Diphenylalanine and Diphenylalanine within a 3D Fibrous Viscous Network Confers Atypical Curvature and Branching

Supramolecular polymer co-assembly is a useful approach to modulate peptide nanostructures. However, the co-assembly scenario where one of the peptide building blocks simultaneously forms a hydrogel is yet to be studied. Herein, we investigate the co-assembly formation of diphenylalanine (FF), and Fmoc-diphenylalanine (FmocFF) within the 3D network of FmocFF hydrogel. The overlapping peptide sequence between the two building blocks leads to their co-assembly within the gel state modulating the nature of the FF crystals. We observe the formation of branched microcrystalline aggregates with an atypical curvature, in contrast to the FF assemblies obtained from aqueous solution. Optical microscopy reveal the sigmoidal kinetic growth profile of these aggregates. Microfluidics and ToF-SIMS experiments exhibit the presence of co-assembled structures of FF and FmocFF in the crystalline aggregates. Molecular dynamics simulation was used to decipher the mechanism of co-assembly formation.     

Precise Synthesis of Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Fluoropolymers Enabled by Chain-Transfer-Agent Differentiation under Visible-Light Irradiation

Ultra-high-molecular-weight (UHMW) polymers display outstanding properties and hold potential for wide applications. However, their precise synthesis remains challenging. Herein, we developed a novel reversible-deactivation radical polymerization based on the strong and selective fluorine–fluorine interaction, allowing chain-transfer agents to spontaneously differentiate into two groups that take charge of the chain growth and reversible deactivation of the growing chains, respectively. This method enables dramatically improved livingness of propagation, providing UHMW polymers with a surprisingly narrow molecular weight distribution (Đ≈1.1) from a variety of fluorinated (meth)acrylates and acrylamide at quantitative conversions under visible-light irradiation. In situ chain-end extensions from UHMW polymers facilitated the synthesis of well-defined block copolymers, revealing the excellent chain-end fidelity achieved by this method.     

Synthesis of Honeycomb-Structured Beryllium Oxide via Graphene Liquid Cells

Using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron energy-loss spectroscopy, we show that beryllium oxide crystallizes in the planar hexagonal structure in a graphene liquid cell by a wet-chemistry approach. These liquid cells can feature van-der-Waals pressures up to 1 GPa, producing a miniaturized high-pressure container for the crystallization in solution. The thickness of as-received crystals is beyond the thermodynamic ultra-thin limit above which the wurtzite phase is energetically more favorable according to the theoretical prediction. The crystallization of the planar phase is ascribed to the near-free-standing condition afforded by the graphene surface. Our calculations show that the energy barrier of the phase transition is responsible for the observed thickness beyond the previously predicted limit. These findings open a new door for exploring aqueous-solution approaches of more metal-oxide semiconductors with exotic phase structures and properties in graphene-encapsulated confined cells.