基于平面度的燃料电池电化学性能模拟

 固体氧化物燃料电池的翘曲会影响电极-盖板界面的接触情况，从而影响电化学性能，对相关制造工艺提出了很大的挑战．为了分析燃料电池平面度对放电过程的影响，揭示其潜在的风险，我们建立了两个基于有限元法的仿真模型，对考虑平面度缺陷的燃料电池封装和放电进行分析．在对固体氧化物燃料电池进行平面度测量的基础上，首先建立了具有真实燃料电池翘曲特性的几何模型，分析封装过程中接触压力的分布情况．然后将接触电阻的仿真结果导入到三维多物理场耦合模型中，模拟具有平面度缺陷的燃料电池电化学性能．计算结果展示了燃料电池两侧封装过程中接触压力的分布情况．通过对比有接触电阻和无接触电阻的燃料电池电流密度，分析了电池与盖板的接触对放电过程的影响．结果表明，燃料电池的凹陷面较难达到满意的接触状态，需要比凸起面更大的封装压力．燃料电池表面接触电阻的变化将引起电流传导路径的变化，产生局部高电流或低电流．这项工作强调了在燃料电池中保持均匀分布的接触电阻的重要性，为今后的优化工作奠定了基础．     

单气室固体氧化物燃料电池的材料、微堆结构与相关应用

单气室固体氧化物燃料电池（SC-SOFC）是一种整个电池处在单一气室中,阳极和阴极分别对混合气体中的燃料和氧气进行选择催化产生电动势的特殊结构燃料电池. SC-SOFC因其独特的原理和结构而具有无需密封、易于堆叠、可以快速启动和不易发生积碳等诸多优点,有很大的应用潜力. 作者在SC-SOFC的原理和特点的基础上,系统地总结了SC-SOFC所用材料、微堆结构设计、衰退机制及应用方面的研究进展;以提高SC-SOFC微堆的输出电压和功率为目的,改进预混气体环境下运行的微堆结构,采取星型布局的四电池微堆其输出功率提高到420 mW;随后,逐步改进供气方式,结合计算流体力学数值模拟研究,提出了单路多点供气和双路多点供气模式,成功地将单个SC-SOFC微堆模块的输出功率提升到8.178 W,进而开展了微堆模块外部串并联和与燃烧器的结合实验验证. 研究结果表明,SC-SOFC可以很便捷地连接成微堆模块并产生数瓦的输出功率,未来有望用于以供热为主型的热电联供系统. 作者还借助原位电阻和开路电压的原位同步测试,阐明了Ni在CH₄-O₂气氛中的反复氧化-还原循环是SC-SOFC发生不可逆衰退的主要机制,这一发现后来催生出氧化-还原法制备多孔金属的新技术.     

Information percolation and cutoff for the random‐cluster model

We consider the random‐cluster model (RCM) on with parameters p∈(0,1) and q ≥ 1. This is a generalization of the standard bond percolation (with edges open independently with probability p) which is biased by a factor q raised to the number of connected components. We study the well‐known Fortuin‐Kasteleyn (FK)‐dynamics on this model where the update at an edge depends on the global geometry of the system unlike the Glauber heat‐bath dynamics for spin systems, and prove that for all small enough p (depending on the dimension) and any q>1, the FK‐dynamics exhibits the cutoff phenomenon at with a window size , where λ_∞ is the large n limit of the spectral gap of the process. Our proof extends the information percolation framework of Lubetzky and Sly to the RCM and also relies on the arguments of Blanca and Sinclair who proved a sharp mixing time bound for the planar version. A key aspect of our proof is the analysis of the effect of a sequence of dependent (across time) Bernoulli percolations extracted from the graphical construction of the dynamics, on how information propagates.     

Enhancing hydrogen evolution of MoS2 basal planes by combining single-boron catalyst and compressive strain

MoS₂ is a promising candidate for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), while its active sites are mainly distributed on the edge sites rather than the basal plane sites. Herein, a strategy to overcome the inertness of the MoS₂ basal surface and achieve high HER activity by combining single-boron catalyst and compressive strain was reported through density functional theory (DFT) computations. The ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulation on B@MoS₂ suggests high thermodynamic and kinetic stability. We found that the rather strong adsorption of hydrogen by B@MoS₂ can be alleviated by stress engineering. The optimal stress of −7% can achieve a nearly zero value of ΔG_H (~ −0.084 eV), which is close to that of the ideal Pt–SACs for HER. The novel HER activity is attributed to (i) the B– doping brings the active site to the basal plane of MoS₂ and reduces the band-gap, thereby increasing the conductivity; (ii) the compressive stress regulates the number of charge transfer between (H)–(B)–(MoS₂), weakening the adsorption energy of hydrogen on B@MoS₂. Moreover, we constructed a SiN/B@MoS₂ heterojunction, which introduces an 8.6% compressive stress for B@MoS₂ and yields an ideal ΔGH. This work provides an effective means to achieve high intrinsic HER activity for MoS₂.     

An electrochemical sensor based on Pt nanoparticles decorated over-oxidized polypyrrole/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite for simultaneous determination of two neurotransmitters dopamine and 5-Hydroxy tryptamine in the presence of ascorbic acid

Abstract

In this study, the Pt nanoparticles/over-oxidized polypyrrole nanofiber/reduced graphene oxide (Pt NPs/OPPy/RGO) nanocomposite was electrochemically synthesized and used to modify a glassy carbon electrode. To confirm the Surface morphology and characterization of the nanocomposite, field emission scanning microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, FT-IR, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used. Simultaneous determination of these species showed one linear response 0.1–250.0?μM and two linear responses 0.5–10.0?μM and 10.0–470.0?μM, with detection limits 42?nM and 106?nM (S/N?=?3) for DA and 5-HT, respectively. Finally, the analytical application of this modified electrode was investigated in the human blood plasma.     

The application of metal-organic frameworks in electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction

In recent years, the research of nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) under ambient conditions has attracted wide attention for their relatively low energy consumption, in which rational design of electrocatalysts is the key to achieve high-performance NRR. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), as a new kind of porous material, have been intensively studied in the past few decades owing to not only their structural versatility and tunability but also intrinsic porosity. Due to their structural features, MOFs also have potential applications in mild condition electrocatalysis of NRR. In this review, the recently experimental and theoretical studies of MOFs in NRR electrocatalysts are briefly summarized.     

One-Step Nucleic Acid Purification and Noise-Resistant Polymerase Chain Reaction by Electrokinetic Concentration for Ultralow-Abundance Nucleic Acid Detection

Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs)integrated on a chip hold great promise for point-of-care diagnostics. Currently, nucleic acid (NA) purification remains time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it takes extensive efforts to optimize the amplification chemistry. Using selective electrokinetic concentration, we report one-step, liquid-phase NA purification that is simpler and faster than conventional solid-phase extraction. By further re-concentrating NAs and performing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in a microfluidic chamber, our platform suppresses non-specific amplification caused by non-optimal PCR designs. We achieved the detection of 5 copies of M. tuberculosis genomic DNA (equaling 0.3 cell) in real biofluids using both optimized and non-optimal PCR designs, which is 10- and 1000-fold fewer than those of the standard bench-top method, respectively. By simplifying the workflow and shortening the development cycle of NAATs, our platform may find use in point-of-care diagnosis.     

Catalytic Behavior of Mono-N-Protected Amino-Acid Ligands in Ligand-Accelerated C−H Activation by Palladium(II)

Mono-N-protected amino acids (MPAAs) are increasingly common ligands in Pd-catalyzed C−H functionalization reactions. Previous studies have shown how these ligands accelerate catalytic turnover by facilitating the C−H activation step. Here, it is shown that MPAA ligands exhibit a second property commonly associated with ligand-accelerated catalysis: the ability to support catalytic turnover at substoichiometric ligand-to-metal ratios. This catalytic role of the MPAA ligand is characterized in stoichiometric C−H activation and catalytic C−H functionalization reactions. Palladacycle formation with substrates bearing carboxylate and pyridine directing groups exhibit a 50–100-fold increase in rate when only 0.05 equivalents of MPAA are present relative to Pd^II. These and other mechanistic data indicate that facile exchange between MPAAs and anionic ligands coordinated to Pd^II enables a single MPAA to support C−H activation at multiple Pd^II centers.