Nanocatalysts for Solar Water Splitting and a Perspective on Hydrogen Economy

In this review article, nanocatalysts for solar hydrogen production are the focus of discussion as they can contribute to the development of sustainable hydrogen production in order to meet future energy demands. Achieving this task is subject of scientific aspirations in the field of photo‐ and photoelectrocatalysis for solar water splitting where systems of single catalysts or tandem configurations are being investigated. In search of a suitable catalyst, a number of crucial parameters are laid out which need to be considered for material design, in particular for nanostructured materials that provide exceptional physical and chemical properties in comparison to their bulk counterparts. Apart from synthetic approaches for nanocatalysts, key parameters and properties of nanostructured photocatalysts such as light absorption, charge carrier generation, charge transport, separation and recombination, and other events that affect nanoscale catalysts are discussed. To provide a deeper understanding of these key parameters and properties, their contribution towards existing catalyst systems is evaluated for photo‐ and photoelectrocatalytic solar hydrogen evolution. Finally, an insight into hydrogen production processes is given, stressing the current development of sustainable hydrogen sources and presenting a perspective towards a hydrogen‐based economy.     

Principles of Water Electrolysis and Recent Progress in Cobalt-, Nickel-, and Iron-Based Oxides for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Water electrolysis that results in green hydrogen is the key process towards a circular economy. The supply of sustainable electricity and availability of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts are the main bottlenecks of the process for large-scale production of green hydrogen. A broad range of OER electrocatalysts have been explored to decrease the overpotential and boost the kinetics of this sluggish half-reaction. Co-, Ni-, and Fe-based catalysts have been considered to be potential candidates to replace noble metals due to their tunable 3d electron configuration and spin state, versatility in terms of crystal and electronic structures, as well as abundance in nature. This Review provides some basic principles of water electrolysis, key aspects of OER, and significant criteria for the development of the catalysts. It provides also some insights on recent advances of Co-, Ni-, and Fe-based oxides and a brief perspective on green hydrogen production and the challenges of water electrolysis.     

On the rates of convergence of BBH-Kantorovich operators and their Bézier variant

In the present paper we consider the Bézier variant of BBH-Kantorovich operators J_n,αf for functions f measurable and locally bounded on the interval [0, ∞) with α ? 1. By using the Chanturiya modulus of variation we estimate the rate of pointwise convergence of J_n,αf(x) at those x > 0 at which the one-sided limits f(x+), f(x−) exist. The very recent result of Chen and Zeng (2009) [L. Chen, X.M. Zeng, Rate of convergence of a new type Kantorovich variant of Bleimann-Butzer-Hahn Operators, J. Inequal. Appl. 2009 (2009) 10. Article ID 852897] is extended to more general classes of functions.     

Structural and electronic properties of zincblende phase of Tl x Ga1−x As y P1−y quaternary alloys: First-principles study

Using the first-principles band-structure method, we have calculated the structural and electronic properties of zincblende TlAs, TlP, GaAs and GaP compounds and their new semiconductor Tl _x Ga_1?x As _y P_1?y quaternary alloys. Structural properties of these semiconductors are obtained with the Perdew and Wang local-density approximation. The lattice constants of Tl _x Ga_1?x As, Tl _x Ga_1?x P ternary and Tl _x Ga_1?x As _y P_1?y quaternary alloys were composed by Vegard’s law. Our investigation on the effect of the doping (Thallium and Arsenic) on lattice constants and band gap shows a non-linear dependence for Tl _x Ga_1?x As _y P_1?y quaternary alloys. The band gap of Tl _x Ga_1?x As _y P_1?y , E _g (x, y) concerned by the compositions x and y. To our awareness, there is no theoretical survey on Tl _x Ga_1?x As _y P_1?y quaternary alloys and needs experimental verification.     

Cyclic Voltammetry of Metallic Acetylacetonate Salts in Quaternary Ammonium and Phosphonium Based Deep Eutectic Solvents

Seven commercially sourced acetylacetonate salts were investigated in deep eutectic solvents (DESs that were prepared from ethylene glycol and trifluoroacetamide hydrogen bond donors) by cyclic voltammetry, to identify electrolytes suitable for future applications in electrochemical energy storage devices. Although the solubilities are low and on the order of 0.02 mol·L^?1 for the most soluble salts, some were found to display encouraging quasi-reversible electrochemical kinetics. For instance, the diffusion coefficients of copper(II) acetylacetonate and iron(III) acetylacetonate in the trifluoroacetamide based DES are 1.14 × 10^?8 and 5.12 × 10^?9 cm²·s^?1, which yields rate constants of 3.16 × 10^?3 and 8.43 × 10^?6 cm·s^?1, respectively. These results are better than those obtained with the DESs prepared from ethylene glycol. The poor kinetics of the iron(III) acetylacetonate system was possibly due to the hygroscopic nature of the DESs that resulted in a continuous build-up of moisture in the system in spite of the maintenance of an inert atmosphere by means of a plastic glove bag. Further work is thus envisaged in an inert dry box that could lead to H-type glass cell charge/discharge experiments in the future.     

On Convergence of Chlodovsky and Chlodovsky–Kantorovich Polynomials in the Variation Seminorm

The aim of this paper is to study the variation detracting property and rate of approximation of the Chlodovsky and Chlodovsky–Kantorovich polynomials in the space of functions of bounded variation with respect to the variation seminorm.     

SOA-based multi-wavelength laser using fiber Bragg gratings

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a triple-wavelength fiber ring laser using a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) in conjunction with a series of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The three channels operate at 1554.4, 1555.3, and 1556.1 nm with a peak power above ?25 dBm and optical signal-to-noise (OSNR) above 30 dB at SOA drive current of 350 mA under the room temperature. The proposed laser configuration has the advantages of a simple and compact structure, multi-wavelength operation and the system can be upgraded to generate more wavelengths by increasing the number of FBG used.