Crossover between channeling and pinning at twin boundaries in YBa2Cu3O7 thin films

The critical current (Jc) of highly twinned YBa2Cu3O7 films has been measured as a function of temperature, magnetic field, and angle. For much of the parameter space we observe a strong suppression of Jc for fields in the twin boundary (TB) directions; this is quantitatively modeled as flux-cutting-mediated vortex channeling. For certain temperatures and fields a crossover occurs to a regime in which channeling is blocked and the TBs act as planar pinning centers so that TB pinning enhances the overall Jc. In this regime, intrinsic pinning along the TBs is comparable to that between the twins.     

Pyridine and benzonitrile adducts of bis(4-nonafluorobiphenyl)zinc

Treatment of (Ar_F′)₂Zn(OEt₂)₂ (Ar_F′ = 4-C₆F₅C₆F₄) with 2 equiv. of benzonitrile, 4-(phenyl)benzonitrile, 4-(pyrrolyl)benzonitrile, pyridine, 4-(phenyl)pyridine or 4-(pyrrolyl)pyridine in dichloromethane afforded the corresponding adducts (Ar_F′)₂ZnL₂ in near quantitative yield. The 2,2′-bipyridine adduct was prepared similarly. Multinuclear NMR spectroscopy indicated that zinc′s four-coordinate character was maintained in solution. The pyridine complex crystallized from dichloromethane with a solid-state structure free of face-to-face aryl–aryl interactions. In contrast, the 4-(pyrrolyl)pyridine adduct crystallized from both dichloromethane and 1,2-difluorobenzene, with solvent of crystallization, but otherwise essentially identical supramolecular architectures assembled through aryl–aryl synthons, including a face-to-face pentafluorophenyl–pyrrole interaction.     

Sobolev estimates for the Cauchy–Riemann complex on <Emphasis Type="Italic">C</Emphasis><Superscript>1</Superscript> pseudoconvex domains

Let be a bounded pseudoconvex domain with C ^k boundary, k ≥ 1. In this paper, we will prove that the Cauchy–Riemann operator has a bounded solution operator in the Sobolev space for all .     

Anodic and Cathodic Platinum Dissolution Processes Involve Different Oxide Species

The degradation of Pt-containing oxygen reduction catalysts for fuel cell applications is strongly linked to the electrochemical surface oxidation and reduction of Pt. Here, we study the surface restructuring and Pt dissolution mechanisms during oxidation/reduction for the case of Pt(100) in 0.1 M HClO₄ by combining operando high-energy surface X-ray diffraction, online mass spectrometry, and density functional theory. Our atomic-scale structural studies reveal that anodic dissolution, detected during oxidation, and cathodic dissolution, observed during the subsequent reduction, are linked to two different oxide phases. Anodic dissolution occurs predominantly during nucleation and growth of the first, stripe-like oxide. Cathodic dissolution is linked to a second, amorphous Pt oxide phase that resembles bulk PtO₂ and starts to grow when the coverage of the stripe-like oxide saturates. In addition, we find the amount of surface restructuring after an oxidation/reduction cycle to be potential-independent after the stripe-like oxide has reached its saturation coverage.