Understanding Synergistic Catalysis on Cu-Se Dual Atom Sites via Operando X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy in Oxygen Reduction Reaction

The construction and understanding of synergy in well-defined dual-atom active sites is an available avenue to promote multistep tandem catalytic reactions. Herein, we construct a dual-hetero-atom catalyst that comprises adjacent Cu-N₄ and Se-C₃ active sites for efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity. Operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy coupled with theoretical calculations provide in-depth insights into this dual-atom synergy mechanism for ORR under realistic device operation conditions. The heteroatom Se modulator can efficiently polarize the charge distribution around symmetrical Cu-N₄ moieties, and serve as synergistic site to facilitate the second oxygen reduction step simultaneously, in which the key OOH*-(Cu₁-N₄) transforms to O*-(Se₁-C₂) intermediate on the dual-atom sites. Therefore, this designed catalyst achieves satisfied alkaline ORR activity with a half-wave potential of 0.905 V vs. RHE and a maximum power density of 206.5 mW cm⁻² in Zn-air battery.     

Preparation of open tubular capillary column covalently coated with polystyrene sulfonate with 4,4′-Azobis(4-cyanopentanoyl chloride) as polymerization initiator for electrochromatographic separation of alkaloids,sulfonamides, and peptides

An open tubular capillary electrochromatography column covalently bonded with polystyrene sulfonate was prepared via in situ polymerization using functionalized Azo-initiator 4,4′-Azobis(4-cyanopentanoyl chloride). Scanning electron, fluorescence, and atomic force microscopy techniques showed the formation of a relatively rough layer of polymer. In addition, –CN and C = O stretching vibrations from infrared spectroscopy proved the successful immobilization of the azo-initiator through covalent bonding and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the elemental composition of the formed polymer layer. The prepared column was found to be appropriate for small and medium-sized molecules separation. Compared to bare fused silica capillary column higher selectivity and resolution were obtained for the separation of alkaloids, sulfonamides, and peptides as a result of the electrostatic and pi-pi stacking interactions between the small organic molecules and the coated column without compromising the electroosmotic flow mobility. Separation efficiency was also increased compared to the bare capillary for the separation of alkaloids (about 1.5 times). Moreover, intraday, inter-day, intra-batch, and inter-batch relative standard deviation values of retention time and peak area of peptides were within 2% and 10%, respectively, indicating good repeatability of the column preparation procedure. The developed method for the covalent bonding of polymers through a functionalized azo-initiator could represent a promising stable method for the preparation of an open tubular column.     

Thermal stability of several polyaniline/rare earth oxide composites

Polyaniline/rare earth oxide composites (PANI/La₂O₃ and PANI/Sm₂O₃) were synthesized by in situ polymerization at the presence of sulfosalicylic acid (as dopant). The composites obtained were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thermal stability of the composites was investigated by thermogravimetry (TG) and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG). The electrochemical performance of the composites was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results of FTIR, XRD, SEM, CV, and EIS show that the structure of composite has changed greatly when rare earth oxide content is >0.7 g (PANI/La₂O₃[w/w(92.7/7.3)] and PANI/Sm₂O₃[w/w(96.2/3.8)]) and the PANI in the composite has transformed into pernigraniline base (non-conducting state) from emeraldine base (conducting state). TG-DTG analysis indicates that the thermal stability of composite was higher than pure PANI, which is attributed to the interaction between PANI and rare earth oxide.     

Switch in Selectivity for Formal Hydroalkylation of 1,3‐Dienes and Enynes with Simple Hydrazones

Controlling reaction selectivity is a permanent pursuit for chemists. Regioselective catalysis, which exploits and/or overcomes innate steric and electronic bias to deliver diverse regio‐enriched products from the same starting materials, represents a powerful tool for divergent synthesis. Recently, the 1,2‐Markovnikov hydroalkylation of 1,3‐dienes with simple hydrazones was reported to generate branched allylic compounds when a nickel catalyst was used. As part of the effort, shown here is that a complete switch of Markovnikov to anti‐Markovnikov addition is obtained by changing to a ruthenium catalyst, thus providing direct and efficient access to homoallylic products exclusively. Isotopic substitution experiments indicate that no reversible hydro‐metallation across the metal‐π‐allyl system occurred under ruthenium catalysis. Moreover, this protocol is applicable to the regiospecific hydroalkylation of the distal C=C bond of 1,3‐enynes.     

Palladium‐Catalyzed Formal Hydroalkylation of Aryl‐Substituted Alkynes with Hydrazones

We have developed an unprecedented Pd‐catalyzed formal hydroalkylation of alkynes with hydrazones, which are generated in situ from naturally abundant aldehydes, as both alkylation reagents and hydrogen donors. The hydroalkylation proceeds with high regio‐ and stereoselectivity to form (Z)‐alkenes, which are more difficult to generate compared to (E)‐alkenes. The reaction is compatible with a wide range of functional groups, including hydroxy, ester, ketone, nitrile, boronic ester, amine, and halide groups. Furthermore, late‐stage modifications of natural products and pharmaceutical derivatives exemplify its unique chemoselectivity, regioselectivity, and synthetic applicability. Mechanistic studies indicate the possible involvement of Pd‐hydride intermediates.     

Phase Estimation and Compensation for Continuous-Variable Quantum Key Distribution

Phase estimation and compensation is one of the enabling functionalities in continous-variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD). Recently, a novel CVQKD scheme has been independently proposed to combat the local oscillator (LO) side channel attacks. Furthermore, we have carried out a proof-of-principle experimental study on the feasibility of the CVQKD without sending a LO. However, this scheme contains a serious weakness: The phase noise caused by the two different lasers between the sender and the receiver would severely destroy the quantum signal and finally reduce the secure distance. In this paper, we investigate the optical phase noise and explore the optimal approach to estimate and compensate such kind of noise with appropriate data overhead. Numerical simulations show that our scheme can successfully reconstruct the phase drifts even at low signal-to-noise ratio conditions. We also suggest that a higher accuracy of phase estimation could be achieved by using the frequency division multiplexing scheme. This opens an opportunity to employ advanced pilot-aided phase estimation techniques in quantum communication system.

     

Microwave photonics reconfigurable mixer based on polarization modulator

A reconfigurable and stable mixer is proposed and demonstrated in this paper. It mainly consists of a dual-driven Mach–Zehnder modulator and a polarization modulator with several polarization controllers (PC) and polarizers (Pol). According to the theoretical analysis, different functions (such as single ended mixer, balanced mixer, I/Q mixer and image rejection mixer) can be realized by adjusting the PCs and Pols. The simulation results verify the possibility of multi-functions that realized by the reconfigurable mixer. In addition, another research on how the non-ideal parameters affect the image rejection ratio (ISR) and conversion efficiency of the mixer is also carried. The results show that both of them perform better as the extinction ratio gets higher. However, they are incurring a sharp decrease if the DC bias points deviate from the settled values. In the meantime, the results also indicate that the higher modulation indices lead to a better ISR. A 57.12 dB ISR can be achieved with conversion efficiency of ? 9.53 dB.     

Effect Nd2O3 content on electrochemical performance of polyaniline/Nd2O3 composites

Polyaniline/neodymium(III) oxide (PANI/Nd₂O₃) composites were synthesized by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization method, and the new electrode materials were used for supercapacitor. The composites were characterized physically by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD). SEM, IR and XRD results showed the existence of interactions between PANI and Nd₂O₃. The electrochemical capacitance performance of the composites was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge–discharge tests and ac impedance spectroscopy with a three‐electrode system in 6 M KOH solution. Cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge tests proved that the addition of Nd₂O₃ enhanced the capacitance of the composites. However, the conductivity of the composites decreases with increasing the amount of Nd₂O₃. Electrochemical impedance tests manifest that the charge‐transfer resistance of the composites is smaller than that of the pure PANI, which indicates the addition of Nd₂O₃ could lower resistance and facilitate the charge transfer of the active materials. All results support that Nd₂O₃ has a significant contribution to the performance of PANI and makes the composites have more active sites for faradiac reaction and larger specific capacitance than pure PANI. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

两路输入前置光放大星间微波光子链路优化

考虑到星间微波光子链路传输损耗大且多路微波信号之间交调干扰严重,利用前置光放大来提高链路的信号噪声失真比RSNDR。建立了两路输入前置光放大星间微波光子链路模型,推导出了RSNDR的解析表达式。通过优化马赫-曾德尔调制器的直流偏置相移,使得在给定输入射频信号功率条件下RSNDR最大,并进一步分析了前置光放大器参数对最优直流偏置相移和RSNDR的影响。仿真结果表明,前置光放大改变了影响RSNDR的主要因素,使信号放大的倍数大于噪声和三阶交调(IM3)放大的倍数,从而提高了链路的RSNDR。当前置光放大器增益为20dB、噪声系数为3dB时,最优的RSNDR比不加前置光放大器时提高24dB。前置光放大器增益和噪声系数对最优的RSNDR影响很大,而对最优的直流偏置相移几乎无影响。     

Thermal stability of several polyaniline/rare earth oxide composites (I): polyaniline/CeO<Subscript>2</Subscript> composites

Polyaniline (PANI)/CeO₂ composites were prepared by adding CeO₂ powder into the polymerization reaction mixture of aniline. Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the composites. Thermogravimetry (TG) and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) were used to study the thermal stability of the composites. IR and XRD results show that interaction exists between PANI and CeO₂. This interaction maybe is hydrogen bonding action between the hydroxyl groups on the surface of the CeO₂ and the imine groups in the PANI molecular chains. TG–DTG analysis indicates that the thermal stability of the composites is higher than that of the pure PANI. The improvement in the thermal stability of the composites is attributed to the interaction between PANI and CeO₂, which restricts the thermal motion of PANI chains and shields the degradation of PANI in the composites.