Robust and Wide Temperature-Range Zinc Metal Batteries with Unique Electrolyte and Substrate Design

Rechargeable zinc metal batteries are promising for large-scale energy storage. However, their practical application is limited by harsh issues such as uncontrollable dendrite growth, low Coulombic efficiency, and poor temperature tolerance. Herein, a unique design strategy using γ-valerolactone-based electrolyte and nanocarbon-coated aluminum substrate was reported to solve the above problems. The electrolyte with extremely low freezing point and high thermal stability enables the symmetric cells with long cycle life over a wide temperature range (−50 °C to 80 °C) due to its ability to regulate zinc nucleation and preferential epitaxial growth. Besides, the nanocarbon-coated aluminum substrate can also promote a higher Coulombic efficiency over a wide temperature range in contrast to the low Coulombic efficiency of copper substrates with significant irreversible alloying reactions because this unique substrate with excellent chemical stabilization can homogenize the interfacial electron/ion distribution. The optimized zinc metal capacitors can operate stably under various temperature conditions (2000 cycles at 30 °C with 66 % depth of discharge and 1200 cycles at 80 °C with 50 % depth of discharge). This unique electrolyte and substrate design strategy achieves a robust zinc metal battery over a wide temperature range.     

Enantioselective Hydrosilylation of β,β-Disubstituted Enamides to Construct α-Aminosilanes with Vicinal Stereocenters

Despite the advances in the area of catalytic alkene hydrosilylation, the enantioselective hydrosilylation of alkenes bearing a heteroatom substituent is scarce. Here we report a rhodium-catalyzed hydrosilylation of β,β-disubstituted enamides to directly afford valuable α-aminosilanes in a highly regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselective manner. Stereodivergent synthesis could be achieved by regulating substrate geometry and ligand configuration to generate all the possible stereoisomers in high enantio-purity.     

Structure-based design,synthesis of novel probes for cytochrome P450 OleT

Cytochrome P450 OleT_SA, a new cytochrome P450 enzyme from Staphylococcus aureus, catalyzes the oxidative decarboxylation and hydroxylation of fatty acids to generate terminal alkenes and fatty alcohols. The mechanism of this bifurcative chemistry remains largely unknown. Herein, a class of derivatized fatty acids were synthesized as probes to investigate the effects of substrate structure on the product type of P450 OleT_SA. The results demonstrate that the fine-tuned structure of substrates, even in a remote distance from the carboxyl group, significantly regulates OleT catalyzed decarboxylation/hydroxylation reactions. Molecular docking analysis indicated the potential interactions between the carboxylate groups of different probes and the enzyme active center which was attributed to the bifurcative chemistry.     

多级结构Ni@CuS复合物的合成及在提高催化还原4-硝基苯酚性能方面的应用

Three types of hierarchical, flower-like CuS particles were prepared by a hydrothermal method and samples were formulated as thin nanosheets. The aggregation density of the sheets could be readily controlled with the aid of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) or 1, 3, 5-benzenetricarboxylic acid (BTC) organic molecules. The three substrates were then used for the growth of nickel nanocatalysts and the structures of the composites characterized by environment scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Ultraviolet-visible absorption spectrometry was applied to study the catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol. Results show that a sample of Ni nanoparticles (Ni NPs, ~5 nm in diameter) grown on CuS micro-flowers, composed of the sparsest nanosheets (Ni@SUB2) with an ultralow loading of 0.469% (w), showed the best catalytic properties amongst the three Ni@SUB composites. During reduction of 4-nitrophenol with initial 4-nitrophenol concentrations of 0.2 mmol·L^-1, the Ni@SUB2 showed almost 100% transformation within 4 min, while the same quantity of pure Ni NPs showed a transformation of only ~43%. The enhanced catalytic properties for 4-nitrophenol degradation could be ascribed to well-dispersed Ni NPs supported on the CuS substrate providing greater numbers of catalytic active sites. Furthermore, because of CuS is insoluble, it can be easily collected by centrifugation, which can be environmentally beneficial.     

Influence of substrate activation process on structural and optical properties of ZnS thin films

ZnS thin films were deposited on glass substrates by a chemical bath deposition method using a substrate activation process in which aluminum ions become “contaminants” that act as a nucleation center for active components within the deposition solution. The structure and morphology results demonstrate that the films have a ZnS sphalerite crystal structure with a particle size less than 15 nm, and the films consist of small homogeneous grains. The effects of the substrate activation process on the band gap energies and donor-acceptor pair luminescence process were also investigated. A green emission centered at 502 nm was produced due to donor-acceptor transitions from the aluminum acceptor to the ionized and substitution aluminum centers (Al³⁺).     

基于机器视觉的量子点STM形貌图像识别研究

为减轻量子点表面形貌分析过程中的人工工作,使量子点的STM图像分析更加自动化,基于机器视觉对衬底的斜切角及量子点的形貌特性展开研究.利用腐蚀和边缘检测提取台阶形状,并通过反三角变换计算斜切角.利用二值化和阈值下降对量子点的数量与空间坐标进行提取,在此基础上,通过邻域密度计算分析其均匀性,并在解决图像中的粘连问题后找出量子点的尺寸.实验结果显示,与人工统计相比,斜切角、量子点计数及尺寸的平均误差分别为5.02%, 0.7788%及1.12%;并实现量子点均匀性的自动化统计与分析.基于机器视觉算法的自动识别过程,对协助研究者分析量子点表面形貌有实际意义.     

基体对流动锌酸钾碱液中锌电沉积的影响

在流动的高浓度锌酸钾碱液中研究了镍箔和镀镍冲孔钢带基体电极对锌沉积/溶解电化学行为的影响.结果表明,在流动电解液中电极表面浓度梯度变化不大,不同基体上均未出现锌沉积的阴极峰;扫描速度超过10 mV/s,循环伏安曲线基本不随扫速变化,说明锌的沉积/溶解峰电流不仅与扫描速度有关,还取决于锌沉积的时间.采用镀镍冲孔钢带基体兼...     

A strain-isolation design for stretchable electronics

Stretchable electronics represents a direction of recent development in next-generation semiconductor devices.Such systems have the potential to offer the performance of conventional wafer-based technologies,but they can be stretched like a rubber band,twisted like a rope, bent over a pencil,and folded like a piece of paper.Isolating the active devices from strains associated with such deformations is an important aspect of design.One strategy involves the shielding of the electronics from deformation of the substrate through insertion of a compliant adhesive layer. This paper establishes a simple,analytical model and validates the results by the finite element method.The results show that a relatively thick,compliant adhesive is effective to reduce the strain in the electronics,as is a relatively short film.     

Effects of substrate temperature upon the properties of ZnMgTe layer grown by MOVPE

The effects of substrate temperature upon the optical property, composition and surface morphology have been investigated on nominally undoped Zn_1−xMg_xTe layers grown on (1 0 0) ZnTe substrates by atmospheric pressure metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). It was found that Mg composition increases with decreasing substrate temperature. The result of low temperature photoluminescence (PL) measurement suggests that the optical quality of Zn_1−xMg_xTe layers becomes better with decreasing substrate temperature. On the other hand, there is a narrow range of optimal substrate temperature for a smooth surface morphology. For all the layers, a two-mode behavior with ZnTe- and MgTe-like longitudinal optical phonon modes was confirmed by Raman scattering.     

Effects of substrate temperature on the efficiency of hydrogen incorporation on the properties of Al-doped ZnO films

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) transparent conducting films were successfully prepared on glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperatures in Ar and H₂ + Ar sputtering ambient. The effects of substrate temperature on the effectiveness of hydrogen incorporation in Al-doped ZnO films were investigated. The microstructural, electrical and optical properties of AZO films were systematically analyzed by surface profiler, X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscope, four-point probe measurement and UV/vis spectrophotometer. The XRD patterns and SEM pictures indicate that the crystallinity of AZO thin films was markedly improved with hydrogen incorporation at low substrate temperature, while the improvement of crystallinity was not an obvious change at high substrate temperature. The results also indicate that hydrogen incorporation has the stronger effectiveness on the transparent conductive properties of AZO films with the substrate temperature decreasing. The resistivity of the films decreases, especially for lower substrate temperatures, due to the incorporation of hydrogen atoms. These results suggest that substrate temperature should be controlled to the lower level to effectively reduce resistivity without detriment to transmittance of AZO thin films when hydrogen is incorporated.