Current trends in the description of lanthanum strontium manganite oxygen electrode reaction mechanism in a high-temperature solid oxide cell

This review summarizes recent progress in understanding the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions at the lanthanum strontium manganite electrode of a high-temperature solid oxide cell. Information provided here is put into the perspective of the defect chemistry of lanthanum strontium manganite and its impact on the electrode reaction mechanisms itself. After summarizing recent views on the oxygen reduction reaction mechanism, the focus turns to the oxygen evolution reaction, which is significantly less treated in the literature. A combination of the information in the literature on both reactions was the basis for modified reaction mechanism of the oxygen evolution reaction to be proposed under consideration of recent experimental observations and theoretical findings.     

TFSI钝化晶体硅表面性质的第一性原理研究

晶体硅表面钝化是高效率晶体硅太阳能电池的核心技术,直接影响晶体硅器件的性能。本文采用第一性原理方法研究了一种超强酸-双三氟甲基磺酰亚胺(TFSI)钝化晶体硅(001)表面。研究发现,TFSI的四氧原子结构能够与Si(001)表面Si原子有效成键,吸附能达到-5.124 eV。电子局域函数研究表明,TFSI的O原子与晶体硅表面的Si的成键类型为金属键。由态密度和电荷差分密度分析可知,Si表面原子的电子向TFSI转移,从而有效降低了Si表面的电子复合中心,有利于提高晶体硅的少子寿命。Bader电荷显示,伴随着TFSI钝化晶体硅表面的Si原子,表面Si原子电荷电量减少,而TFSI中的O原子和S原子电荷电量相应增加,进一步证明了TFSI钝化Si表面后的电子转移。该工作为第一性原理方法预测有机强酸钝化晶体硅表面的钝化效果提供了数据支撑。     

Evaluation of Charged Defect Energy in Two-Dimensional Semiconductors for Nanoelectronics: The WLZ Extrapolation Method

Defects play a central role in controlling the electronic properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials and realizing the industrialization of 2D electronics. However, the evaluation of charged defects in 2D materials within first-principles calculation is very challenging and has triggered a recent development of the WLZ (Wang, Li, Zhang) extrapolation method. This method lays the foundation of the theoretical evaluation of energies of charged defects in 2D materials within the first-principles framework. Herein, the vital role of defects for advancing 2D electronics is discussed, followed by an introduction of the fundamentals of the WLZ extrapolation method. The ionization energies (IEs) obtained by this method for defects in various 2D semiconductors are then reviewed and summarized. Finally, the unique defect physics in 2D dimensions including the dielectric environment effects, defect ionization process, and carrier transport mechanism captured with the WLZ extrapolation method are presented. As an efficient and reasonable evaluation of charged defects in 2D materials for nanoelectronics and other emerging applications, this work can be of benefit to the community.     

Implementing a Two-Photon Three-Degrees-of-Freedom Hyper-Parallel Controlled Phase Flip Gate Through Cavity-Assisted Interactions

Hyper-parallel quantum information processing is a promising and beneficial research field. Herein, a method to implement a hyper-parallel controlled-phase-flip (hyper-CPF) gate for frequency-, spatial-, and time-bin-encoded qubits by coupling flying photons to trapped nitrogen vacancy (NV) defect centers is presented. The scheme, which differs from their conventional parallel counterparts, is specifically advantageous in decreasing against the dissipate noise, increasing the quantum channel capacity, and reducing the quantum resource overhead. The gate qubits with frequency, spatial, and time-bin degrees of freedom (DOF) are immune to quantum decoherence in optical fibers, whereas the polarization photons are easily disturbed by the ambient noise.     

Periodic solutions of a periodic stochastic human immunodeficiency virus model with distributed delay and cytotoxic T lymphocytes immune response

In this paper, a periodic stochastic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) model with distributed delay and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) immune response is investigated. First, by It $ô$'s formula, we show that the solution with any positive initial value is global and positive. Then, by the stochastic comparison theorem, we obtain the sufficient conditions guaranteeing the existence and global attractivity of infection-free periodic solution. Furthermore, we discuss the existence of the infective periodic solution by Has'minskii theory. Finally, numerical examples are given to illustrate the results.     

Oxidative Epigallocatechin Gallate Coating on Polymeric Substrates for Bone Tissue Regeneration

Plant derived flavonoids have not been well explored in tissue engineering applications due to difficulties in efficient formulations with biomaterials for controlled presentation. Here, the authors report that surface coating of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) on polymeric substrates including poly (L‐lactic acid) (PLLA) nanofibers can be performed via oxidative polymerization of EGCG in the presence of cations, enabling regulation of biological functions of multiple cell types implicated in bone regeneration. EGCG coating on the PLLA nanofiber promotes osteogenic differentiation of adipose‐derived stem cells (ADSCs) and is potent to suppress adipogenesis of ADSCs while significantly reduces osteoclastic maturation of murine macrophages. Moreover, EGCG coating serves as a protective layer for ADSCs against oxidative stress caused by hydrogen peroxide. Finally, the in vivo implantation of EGCG‐coated nanofibers into a mouse calvarial defect model significantly promotes the bone regeneration (61.52 ± 28.10%) as compared to defect (17.48 ± 11.07%). Collectively, the results suggest that EGCG coating is a simple bioinspired surface modification of polymeric biomaterials and importantly can thus serve as a promising interface for tuning activities of multiple cell types associated with bone fracture healing.     

Antimicrobial Effect and Cytotoxic Evaluation of Mg-Doped Hydroxyapatite Functionalized with Au-Nano Rods

Hydroxyapatite (HA) is the main inorganic mineral that constitutes bone matrix and represents the most used biomaterial for bone regeneration. Over the years, it has been demonstrated that HA exhibits good biocompatibility, osteoconductivity, and osteoinductivity both in vitro and in vivo, and can be prepared by synthetic and natural sources via easy fabrication strategies. However, its low antibacterial property and its fragile nature restricts its usage for bone graft applications. In this study we functionalized a MgHA scaffold with gold nanorods (AuNRs) and evaluated its antibacterial effect against S. aureus and E. coli in both suspension and adhesion and its cytotoxicity over time (1 to 24 days). Results show that the AuNRs nano-functionalization improves the antibacterial activity with 100% bacterial reduction after 24 h. The toxicity study, however, indicates a 4.38-fold cell number decrease at 24 days. Although further optimization on nano-functionalization process are needed for cytotoxicity, these data indicated that Au-NRs nano-functionalization is a very promising method for improving the antibacterial properties of HA.     

In Vivo Biological Behavior of Polymer Scaffolds of Natural Origin in the Bone Repair Process

Autologous bone grafts, used mainly in extensive bone loss, are considered the gold standard treatment in regenerative medicine, but still have limitations mainly in relation to the amount of bone available, donor area, morbidity and creation of additional surgical area. This fact encourages tissue engineering in relation to the need to develop new biomaterials, from sources other than the individual himself. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of an elastin and collagen matrix on the bone repair process in critical size defects in rat calvaria. The animals (Wistar rats, n = 30) were submitted to a surgical procedure to create the bone defect and were divided into three groups: Control Group (CG, n = 10), defects filled with blood clot; E24/37 Group (E24/37, n = 10), defects filled with bovine elastin matrix hydrolyzed for 24 h at 37 °C and C24/25 Group (C24/25, n = 10), defects filled with porcine collagen matrix hydrolyzed for 24 h at 25 °C. Macroscopic and radiographic analyses demonstrated the absence of inflammatory signs and infection. Microtomographical 2D and 3D images showed centripetal bone growth and restricted margins of the bone defect. Histologically, the images confirmed the pattern of bone deposition at the margins of the remaining bone and without complete closure by bone tissue. In the morphometric analysis, the groups E24/37 and C24/25 (13.68 ± 1.44; 53.20 ± 4.47, respectively) showed statistically significant differences in relation to the CG (5.86 ± 2.87). It was concluded that the matrices used as scaffolds are biocompatible and increase the formation of new bone in a critical size defect, with greater formation in the polymer derived from the intestinal serous layer of porcine origin (C24/25).     

多片导模法蓝宝石晶体的缺陷研究

使用导模法(EFG)生长了多片a面蓝宝石晶体。显微拉曼光谱结合电感耦合等离子体发射光谱(ICP-AES)测试得出晶体的气泡中可能存在含S化合物。晶体表面明显的生长条纹主要与温度、生长速度的波动以及模具的加工精度有关。化学腐蚀分析表明晶体位错密度在4.2×10⁴ cm^-2,未存在小角度晶界缺陷,双晶摇摆曲线半峰宽(FWHM)为70.63″。由于采用石墨保温材料,晶体中存在F心与F⁺色心。晶体在400~3 000 nm波段透过率高于80%,空气中退火后可减弱色心吸收。本文研究结果可为蓝宝石晶体缺陷形成理论研究提供参考,也可为导模法蓝宝石工业生产技术改进提供借鉴。     

Effect of defects on the electronic structure of a PbI2/MoS2 van der Waals heterostructure: A first-principles study

PbI2/MoS2,as a typical van der Waals(vdW)heterostructure,has attracted intensive attention owing to its remarkable electronic and optoelectronic properties.In this work,the effect of defects on the electronic structures of a PbI2/MoS2 heterointerface has been systematically investigated.The manner in which the defects modulate the band structure of PbI2/MoS2,including the band gap,band edge,band alignment,and defect energy-level density within the band gap is discussed herein.It is shown that sulfur defects tune the band gaps,iodine defects shift the positions of the band edge and Fermi level,and lead defects realize the conversions between the straddling-gap band alignment and valence-band-aligned gap,thus enhancing the light-absorption ability of the material.