Cobalt Based Nanoparticles Embedded Reduced Graphene Oxide Aerogel for Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalyst

Efficient water electrolysis catalyst is highly demanded for the production of hydrogen as a sustainable energy fuel. It is reported that cobalt derived nanoparticle (CoS₂, CoP, CoS|P) decorated reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite aerogel catalysts for highly active and reliable hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalysts. 7 nm level cobalt derived nanoparticles are synthesized over graphene aerogel surfaces with excellent surface coverage and maximal expose of active sites. CoS|P/rGO hybrid aerogel composites show an excellent catalytic activity with overpotential of ≈169 mV at a current density of ≈10 mA cm^?2. Accordingly, efficient charge transfer is attained with Tafel slope of ≈52 mV dec^?1 and a charge transfer resistance (R_ct) of ≈12 Ω. This work suggests a viable route toward ultrasmall, uniform nanoparticles decorated graphene surfaces with well‐controlled chemical compositions, which can be generally useful for various applications commonly requiring large exposure of active surface area as well as robust interparticle charger transfer.     

Attaching tweezers like ionophore to a proton crane: theoretical design of new tautomeric sensors

ABSTRACT

The tautomeric optical sensors based on 4-(phenyldiazenyl)naphthalen-1-ol exist in their pure enol tautomeric form as free ligands, while the addition of metal ion fully shifts the equilibrium towards the keto tautomer allowing a red shift in the measured absorbance. This effect is achieved when a side ionophore group is connected to a tautomeric backbone by a spacer in a way that stabilizes the enol form via hydrogen boding. When the ionophore captures the metal ion the keto form is stabilized due to C─O tautomeric group participation in the complex. In the current study, we model theoretically the effect of symmetric tweezer like ionophores (RCOXCOR, where X, being CH or N, is the linker to the tautomeric backbone) on the tautomeric state and complexation ability of 4-(phenyldiazenyl)naphthalen-1-ol containing ligands. It was found that enol form stabilisation is achieved when R?=?NMe₂, independing on the linker. Both ligands are unsuitable for capturing alkali metal ions. The calculations predict that the complexation with alkali earth metal ions could lead to a full shift of the tautomeric equilibrium towards keto tautomer.     

Formation of intermediate coupling optical polarons and bipolarons in two-dimensional systems

The formation of the optical polaron and bipolaron in two-dimensional (2D) systems is studied in the intermediate electron–phonon coupling regime. The total energies of the 2D polaron and bipolaron are calculated by using the Buimistrov–Pekar method of canonical transformations. The obtained results are compared with other existing results obtained by using the Feynman path integral method and the modified Lee–Low–Pines unitary transformation method. It is shown that the electron–phonon correlation significantly reduces the total energy of the 2D polaron in comparison with the energy of the strong coupling (adiabatic) polaron. It is found that the polaron formation in 2D systems is possible when the electron–phonon coupling constant α is greater than the critical value ${\alpha }_c?2.94$, which is much lower than a critical value of the electron–phonon coupling constant α in three-dimensional (3D) systems. The critical values of the Fröhlich coupling constant α and the ratio $\eta ={\epsilon }_{\infty }/{\epsilon }_0$ (where ${\epsilon }_{\infty }$ and ${\epsilon }_0$ are the high frequency and static dielectric constants, respectively), which determine the bipolaron stability region in 2D systems, are calculated numerically. It is interesting for application to the layered cuprate superconductors that the (bi)polarons are formed more easily in quasi-2D regions than in the bulk. It is argued that the high-$T_c$ cuprate superconductivity can exist above the bulk superconducting transition temperature $T_c$ as the persisting superfluidity of polaronic (bosonic) Cooper pairs and large bipolarons at quasi-2D grain boundaries or in the CuO₂ layers above $T_c$.     

Oxidative dehydrogenation of n-octane over a vanadium–magnesium oxide catalyst: Influence of the gas hourly space velocity

Oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of n-octane was carried out over a vanadium–magnesium oxide catalyst in a continuous flow fixed bed reactor. The catalyst was characterized by ICP–OES, powder XRD and SEM. The catalytic tests were carried out at different gas hourly space velocities (GHSVs), viz. 4000, 6000, 8000, and 10,000 h^?1. The best selectivity for octenes was obtained at the GHSV of 8000 h^?1, while that for C8 aromatics was attained at the GHSV of 6000 h^?1 at high temperatures (500 and 550 °C). The catalytic testing at the GHSV of 10,000 h^?1 showed the lowest activity, while that at the GHSV of 4000 h^?1 consistently showed the lowest ODH selectivity. Generally, the best ODH performance was obtained by the catalytic testing at the GHSVs of 6000 and 8000 h^?1. No phasic changes were observed after the catalytic testing.     

New lower bounds on the radius of spatial analyticity for the KdV equation

The radius of spatial analyticity for solutions of the KdV equation is studied. It is shown that the analyticity radius does not decay faster than $t^{?1/4}$ as time t goes to infinity. This improves the works of Selberg and da Silva (2017) [30] and Tesfahun (2017) [34]. Our strategy mainly relies on a higher order almost conservation law in Gevrey spaces, which is inspired by the I-method.     

GOSs-稀土配合物紫外增强材料的光谱分析与稳定性研究

氧化石墨烯薄片(GOSs)作为一种新型的二维片状材料,具有较高的比表面积、丰富的表面含氧官能团以及良好的光热稳定性。而稀土配合物通过无机稀土元素与有机配体的结合表现出优异的荧光特性。为了将两类材料具有的物化特性结合起来应用于紫外光谱探测领域。选取了合适的有机配体啉菲罗啉(1,10-邻二氮杂菲,phen)、2’2-联嘧啶(bpm)作为桥联分子,把氧化石墨烯(GOSs)与稀土配合物通过氢键自组装作用进行复合,制备了高效稳定可调的GOSs-稀土配合物复合荧光材料GOSs-Eu(BA)3phen和GOSs-Eu(TTA)3bpm,并且制备了相应的聚乙烯醇(PVA)共混紫外增强薄膜,对其光谱特性与稳定性进行了深入的研究。采用红外光谱、扫描电镜和金相显微镜等方法,对紫外增强材料进行了性能表征。采用吸收光谱,荧光光谱等方法,对紫外增强薄膜进行了性能表征。此外,通过热重测试(TGA)表征了GOSs氢键复合前后紫外增强材料的热稳定性,通过荧光强度-紫外光照次数表征了GOSs氢键复合前后紫外增强薄膜的光稳定性。红外光谱分析发现,进行配位前后有机配体的特征峰产生了频移,表明稀土配合物中Eu 3+与配体之间存在着明显的配位作用。在进行复合之后,桥联配体的特征峰也产生了偏移,表明GOSs与稀土配合物通过桥联分子的氢键作用进行了进行复合。吸收光谱与荧光光谱测定结果表明增强薄膜吸收峰在200~400 nm,荧光主峰在612 nm左右,为Eu 3+特征红色荧光峰,且不同配体可以实现不同范围的吸收产生差异化的荧光表现。扫描电镜和金相显微镜清晰地展示了稀土配合物复合前后的微观形貌,即颗粒状稀土配合物附着在石墨烯薄片上。光稳定性测试表明经过GOSs氢键复合之后,Eu(BA)3phen和Eu(TTA)3bpm稀土配合物荧光材料在进行25次荧光强度测试后光漂白程度分别下降了4.26%和6.41%,提高了其光稳定性。热重测试也表明在经过GOSs氢键复合之后,稀土配合物的热稳定性有了很大提高。总之,得益于GOSs和稀土配合物的特性结合,所制备的紫外增强材料表现出优异的荧光特性与稳定性,必将在紫外探测方面有着广阔的应用前景。     

Preparation,structure elucidation,and antioxidant activity of new bis(thiosemicarbazone) derivatives

Schiff-base–bearing new bis(thiosemicarbazone) derivatives were prepared from terephthalaldehyde and various thiosemicarbazides. FT–IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and UV–Vis spectroscopic methods and elemental analysis were used to elucidate the identification of the synthesized molecules. The in vitro antioxidant activity of the synthesized compounds was analysed with the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl free-radical–trapping process. The synthesized compounds exhibited lower antioxidant activity than the standard ascorbic acid. IC₅₀ values of the synthesized molecules measured from 3.81 ± 0.01 to 29.05 ± 0.11 μM. Among the synthesized compounds, compound 3 had the best antioxidant activity. Moreover, this study explained the structure–activity relationship of the synthesized molecules with different substituents in radical trapping reactions.     

Distinguishability and Disturbance in the Quantum Key Distribution Protocol Using the Mean Multi-Kings’ Problem

We introduce a quantum key distribution protocol using mean multi-kings’ problem. Using this protocol, a sender can share a bit sequence as a secret key with receivers. We consider a relation between information gain by an eavesdropper and disturbance contained in legitimate users’ information. In BB84 protocol, such relation is known as the so-called information disturbance theorem. We focus on a setting that the sender and two receivers try to share bit sequences and the eavesdropper tries to extract information by interacting legitimate users’ systems and an ancilla system. We derive trade-off inequalities between distinguishability of quantum states corresponding to the bit sequence for the eavesdropper and error probability of the bit sequence shared with the legitimate users. Our inequalities show that eavesdropper’s extracting information regarding the secret keys inevitably induces disturbing the states and increasing the error probability.     

A novel scheme to acquire enhanced up-conversion emissions of Ho3+ and Yb3+ co-doped Sc2O3

A detailed investigation about the effect of Sc₂O₃: 1 mol%Ho³⁺/5 mol%Yb³⁺ co-doped with Ce⁴⁺ ions prepared by sol-gel methods was performed systematically. Under the excitation of 980 nm laser diode, both green emission (553 nm, ⁵F₄/⁵S₂→⁵I₈) and red emission (672 nm, ⁵F₅→⁵I₈) were both observed in the emission spectra of the samples, which were found to be two-photon process and sensitized by Yb³⁺ ions. With the increasing of Ce⁴⁺ ions, the up-conversion green emission intensity are increased by 6.52, 8.69, 10.85, 13.92 and 16.66 fold, corresponding to the Ce⁴⁺ ions concentrations from 5 mol% to 13 mol%, respectively. The number of photons are necessary to populate the upper emitting state decreases to 2 and the infrared absorption coefficient is reduced, when the Ce⁴⁺ ions concentration increase to 13 mol%. Ce⁴⁺ ions play an important role in tailoring the local crystal field around Ho³⁺ ions, lowering the highest phonon cut-off energy of matrix and reducing the infrared absorption coefficient, thus hindering the non-radiative processes, which contribute to the increased emission intensity. The excellent enhancement makes it a promising multifunctional optical luminescence material.     

Metal ion capacitor composed of the thin-walled surfaces enabling high-rate performance and long cycling stability

Electrochemical capacitors (referred to as supercapacitors) have high power density, long cycling stability, and are eco-friendly for use in electronic applications. The proper and stable utilization of supercapacitor systems can expand the practical scope of energy-powering applications in various device platforms. Nevertheless, the low energy density of conventional oxide and sulfide electrode materials still limits the practical realization of supercapacitor devices in real electronic applications. This limitation results from the poor surface stability, structural collapse, and low electrical conductivity of the oxide and sulfide materials. Single metal electrodes with multivalent metal ions exhibit promising energy-storing kinetics and may be viable alternatives to these oxide and sulfide electrode materials. Here, we report a metal zinc (Zn) electrode supercapacitor (ZIC) consisting of a thin-walled architecture as an electrode by means of a voltage-controlled electroplating method. The optimized ZIC exhibited excellent pseudo-capacitive performance, excellent high-rate performance, and an outstanding cycling stability.