Polypyrrole Shell@3D‐Ni Metal Core Structured Electrodes for High‐Performance Supercapacitors

Three‐dimensional (3D) nanometal films serving as current collectors have attracted much interest recently owing to their promising application in high‐performance supercapacitors. In the process of the electrochemical reaction, the 3D structure can provide a short diffusion path for fast ion transport, and the highly conductive nanometal may serve as a backbone for facile electron transfer. In this work, a novel polypyrrole (PPy) shell@3D‐Ni‐core composite is developed to enhance the electrochemical performance of conventional PPy. With the introduction of a Ni metal core, the as‐prepared material exhibits a high specific capacitance (726 F g^?1 at a charge/discharge rate of 1 A g^?1), good rate capability (a decay of 33 % in C_sp with charge/discharge rates increasing from 1 to 20 A g^?1), and high cycle stability (only a small decrease of 4.2 % in C_sp after 1000 cycles at a scan rate of 100 mV s^?1). Furthermore, an aqueous symmetric supercapacitor device is fabricated by using the as‐prepared composite as electrodes; the device demonstrates a high energy density (≈21.2 Wh kg^?1) and superior long‐term cycle ability (only 4.4 % and 18.6 % loss in C_sp after 2000 and 5000 cycles, respectively).     

Formation of low-temperature deformation-induced segregations of nickel in Fe–Ni-based austenitic alloys

ABSTRACT

The authors present the results of an investigation in Fe–Ni-Cr austenitic alloys of the low-temperature deformation-induced segregations of nickel that form in the micro regions being (i) located close to grain- and subgrain boundaries and (ii) characteristic of the concentration and magnetic inhomogeneities indicated by the appearance of a dark diffraction contrast at the electron diffraction patterns taken from these regions typical (at the same time) of an enhanced value of Curie temperature. The observed effects were connected with the micro distortions caused by the local change of lattice parameter because of an increase in nickel concentration, as well as in the result of a magnetostriction dilatation. Using methods of the X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS) and atomic-probe body-section radiography (tomography – APT) has made it possible to determine the borders of those regions of austenite that were characteristic of an enhanced concentration of nickel in the fields of the localisation of a deformation-induced segregation of nickel in the vicinity of grain (subgrain) boundaries of austenitic alloys of the types Fe–13Cr–30Ni and Fe–37Ni–3Ti.     

Facet-dependent antibacterial activity of Au nanocrystals

Engineered nanomaterials have attracted significantly attention as one of the most promising antimicrobial agents for against multidrug resistant infections. The toxicological responses of nanomaterials are closely related to their physicochemical properties, and establishment of a structure-activity relationship for nanomaterials at the nano-bio interface is of great significance for deep understanding antibacterial toxicity mechanisms of nanomaterials and designing safer antibacterial nanomaterials. In this study, the antibacterial behaviors of well-defined crystallographic facets of a series of Au nanocrystals, including {100}-facet cubes, {110}-facet rhombic dodecahedra, {111}-facet octahedra, {221}-facet trisoctahedra and {720}-facet concave cubes, was investigated, using the model bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. We find that Au nanocrystals display substantial facet-dependent antibacterial activities. The low-index facets of cubes, octahedra, and rhombic dodecahedra show considerable antibacterial activity, whereas the high-index facets of trisoctahedra and concave cubes remained inert under biological conditions. This result is in stark contrast to the previous paradigm that the high-index facets were considered to have higher bioactivity as compared with low-index facets. The antibacterial mechanism studies have shown that the facet-dependent antibacterial behaviors of Au nanocrystals are mainly caused by differential bacterial membrane damage as well as inhibition of cellular enzymatic activity and energy metabolism. The faceted Au nanocrystals are unique in that they do not induce generation of reactive oxygen species, as validated for most antibiotics and antimicrobial nanostructures. Our findings may provide a deeper understanding of facet-dependent toxicological responses and suggest the complexities of the nanomaterial-cell interactions, shedding some light on the development of high performance Au nanomaterials-based antibacterial therapeutics.     

Ag+掺杂的立方相Y2O3:Eu纳米晶体粉末发光强度研究

采用化学自燃烧法制备了不同Ag⁺掺杂浓度的Y₂O₃:Eu纳米晶体粉末样品(［Y³⁺］∶［Eu³⁺］∶［Ag⁺］=99∶1∶X，X=0—3.5×10^-2)，以及通过退火处理得到了相应的体材料.根据X射线衍射谱确定所得纳米和体材料样品均为纯立方相.实验表明在纳米尺寸样品中随着Ag离子浓度的增加，荧光发射强度随之增加，当X=2×10^-2时达到最大值，其发光强度比X=0时提高了近50%.当Ag离子浓度继续增加，样品发光强度保持不变.在相应的体材料样品中则没有观察到此现象.通过对各样品的发射光谱，激发光谱，X射线衍射图谱，透射电镜(TEM)照片和荧光衰减曲线的研究，分析了引起纳米样品荧光强度变化的原因是由于Ag离子与表面悬键氧结合，从而使这一无辐射通道阻断，使发光中心Eu³⁺的量子效率提高；Ag⁺的引入所带来的另一个效应是使激发更为有效.这两方面原因使发光效率得到了提高.     

Structures and stability of Al<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">7</Emphasis></Subscript>C and Al<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">7</Emphasis></Subscript>N clusters

We report results of the atomic and electronic structures of Al₇C cluster using ab initio molecular dynamics with ultrasoft pseudopotentials and generalized gradient approximation. The lowest energy structure is found to be the one in which carbon atom occupies an interstitial position in Al₇ cluster. The electronic structure shows that the recent observation [Chem. Phys. Lett. 316, 31 (2000)] of magic behavior of Al₇C^- cluster is due to a large highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO-LUMO) gap which makes Al₇C^- chemically inert. These results have further led us to the finding of a new neutral magic cluster Al₇N which has the same number of valence electrons as in Al₇C^- and a large HOMO-LUMO gap of 1.99 eV. Further, calculations have been carried out on (Al₇N)₂ to study interaction between magic clusters. Received 28 July 2001     

Studying the process of ionization of hydrogen in conditions of its forced delivery to a porous nickel oxide electrode

The hydrogen ionization process is studied experimentally on an industrial sintered nickel oxide electrode in models of sealed nickel-metal hydride batteries. It is shown that the hydrogen ionization rates that are reached during overcharge by high current densities in conditions of forced gas delivery into the electrode pores (up to 40 mA cm^?2) exceed the self-discharge rate of a nickel-hydrogen battery by two orders of magnitude. Up to 70% of hydrogen delivered into the compact assembly block undergoes ionization during forced charge of models of sealed nickel-metal hydride batteries with a closed hydrogen cycle. Two independent methods (potentiostatic and manometric) are used to determine the relationship between rates of hydrogen ionization with the degree of the electrode filling with gas and perform estimation of the process intensity at a unit reaction surface. It is established that, in conditions of forced gas delivery, practically all the hydrogen oxidation current is generated at the surface of the nickel oxide electrode beneath thin films of an electrolyte solution at the rate of 4–5 mA cm^?2. It is shown that the hydrogen oxidation rate on a nickel oxide electrode filled in part by gas is independent of the electrode potential, probably because of a tangible contribution made by diffusion limitations to the overall hampering of the process.     

锐钛矿二氧化钛超细纳米晶的三声子互作用

本文通过对粒径为2.2-25.5nm的锐钛矿二氧化钛超细纳米晶在83-293 K温度范围内的变温拉曼光谱的研究,得到了三声子互作用对拉曼频率和线宽的贡献随粒径的变化关系。结果表明锐钛矿二氧化钛超细纳米晶的三声子相互作用随粒径减小而加强。     

Synthesis and Crystal Structure of a New Mononuclear Nickel(Ⅱ) Mixed Complex Derived from 2-Aminoethyl-bi(3-bi-aminopropyl)amine with 1,10-Phenanthroline

The mixed complex [Ni(L)(L')](ClO4)2 has been synthesized using 2-aminoethyl- bi(3-bi-aminopropyl)amine with phen (1,10-phenanthroline) in the presence of Ni(II) ion, and its structure was determined by X-ray diffraction. The crystal crystallizes in monoclinic, space group P21/c with a = 13.713(2), b = 13.1466(19), c = 14.780(2) (A), β = 97.620(3)°, V = 2640.9(7)(A)3, F(000) = 1272, Z = 4, Dc = 1.540 g/cm3, R = 0.0536 and wR = 0.1207. The Ni2+ ion is six- coordinated to furnish a distorted octahedral geometry.     

Crystallographic report: Bis{[diacetyl‐bis(2,6‐isopropylphenylimine)]nickel(I)(µ‐chloro)}

The first α‐diimine nickel(I) complex having a chloro bridge is reported. The centrosymmetric dinuclear structure of {[ArN?C(Me)C(Me)?NAr]NiCl}₂[Ar?2,6?C₆H₃(i‐Pr)₂] features two chelating α‐diimine ligands and two bridged chlorine atoms, so that a distorted tetrahedral N₂Cl₂ coordination geometry for nickel results. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Raman properties embeddedof GaSb nanoparticlesin SiO2 films

The Raman shifts of nanocrystalline GaSb excited by an Ar^ ion laser at wavelengths 514.5, 496.5, 488.0, 476.5,and 457.9nm are studied by an SPEX-1403 laser Raman spectrometer respectively, and they are explained by phonon confinement, tensile stress, resonant Raman scattering and quantum size effects. The Stokes and anti-Stokes Raman spectra of GaSb nanocrystals strongly support the Raman feature of GaSb nanocrystals. The calculated optical spectra compare well with experimental data on Raman scattering GaSb nanocrystals.