Cobalt Based Nanoparticles Embedded Reduced Graphene Oxide Aerogel for Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalyst

Efficient water electrolysis catalyst is highly demanded for the production of hydrogen as a sustainable energy fuel. It is reported that cobalt derived nanoparticle (CoS₂, CoP, CoS|P) decorated reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite aerogel catalysts for highly active and reliable hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalysts. 7 nm level cobalt derived nanoparticles are synthesized over graphene aerogel surfaces with excellent surface coverage and maximal expose of active sites. CoS|P/rGO hybrid aerogel composites show an excellent catalytic activity with overpotential of ≈169 mV at a current density of ≈10 mA cm^?2. Accordingly, efficient charge transfer is attained with Tafel slope of ≈52 mV dec^?1 and a charge transfer resistance (R_ct) of ≈12 Ω. This work suggests a viable route toward ultrasmall, uniform nanoparticles decorated graphene surfaces with well‐controlled chemical compositions, which can be generally useful for various applications commonly requiring large exposure of active surface area as well as robust interparticle charger transfer.     

Supramolecular Tuning Enables Selective Oxygen Reduction Catalyzed by Cobalt Porphyrins for Direct Electrosynthesis of Hydrogen Peroxide

We report a supramolecular strategy for promoting the selective reduction of O₂ for direct electrosynthesis of H₂O₂. We utilized cobalt tetraphenylporphyrin (Co-TPP), an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst with highly variable product selectivity, as a building block to assemble the permanently porous supramolecular cage Co-PB-1(6) bearing six Co-TPP subunits connected through twenty-four imine bonds. Reduction of these imine linkers to amines yields the more flexible cage Co-rPB-1(6). Both Co-PB-1(6) and Co-rPB-1(6) cages produce 90–100 % H₂O₂ from electrochemical ORR catalysis in neutral pH water, whereas the Co-TPP monomer gives a 50 % mixture of H₂O₂ and H₂O. Bimolecular pathways have been implicated in facilitating H₂O formation, therefore, we attribute this high H₂O₂ selectivity to site isolation of the discrete molecular units in each supramolecule. The ability to control reaction selectivity in supramolecular structures beyond traditional host–guest interactions offers new opportunities for designing such architectures for a broader range of catalytic applications.     

Planar AIEgens with Enhanced Solid-State Luminescence and ROS Generation for Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria Treatment

Planar luminogens have encountered difficulties in overcoming intrinsic aggregation-caused emission quenching by intermolecular π-π stacking interactions. Although excited-state double-bond reorganization (ESDBR) can guide us on designing planar aggregation-induced emission (AIE) luminogens (AIEgens), its mechanism has yet been elucidated. Major challenges in the field include methods to efficiently restrict ESDBR and enhance AIE performance without using bulky substituents (e.g., tetraphenylethylene and triphenylamine). In this study, we rationally developed fluoro-substituent AIEgens with stronger intermolecular H-bonding interaction for restricted molecular motions and increased crystal density, leading to decreased nonradiative decay rate by one order of magnitude. The adjusted ESDBR properties also show a corresponding response to variation in viscosity. Furthermore, their aggregation-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generations have been discovered. The application of such planar AIEgen in treating multidrug-resistant bacteria has been demonstrated in a mouse model. The relationship between ROS generation and distinct E/Z-configurational stacking behaviors have been further understood, providing a design principle for synthesizing planar AIEgen-based photosensitizers.     

On translation lengths of Anosov maps on the curve graph of the torus

Geometriae Dedicata - We show that an Anosov map has a geodesic axis on the curve graph of the torus. The direct corollary of our result is the stable translation length of an Anosov map on the...     

On a stochastic nonlinear equation in one-dimensional viscoelasticity

In this paper we discuss an initial-boundary value problem for a stochastic nonlinear equation arising in one-dimensional viscoelasticity. We propose to use a new direct method to obtain a solution. This method is expected to be applicable to a broad class of nonlinear stochastic partial differential equations.

     

Sparse polynomials, redundant bases, gauss periods, and efficient exponentiation of primitive elements for small characteristic finite fields

Gauss periods give an exponentiation algorithm that is fast for many finite fields but slow for many other fields. The current paper presents a different method for construction of elements that yield a fast exponentiation algorithm for finite fields where the Gauss period method is slow or does not work. The basic idea is to use elements of low multiplicative order and search for primitive elements that are binomial or trinomial of these elements. Computational experiments indicate that such primitive elements exist, and it is shown that they can be exponentiated fast.     

Effects of annealing conditions on the electrical properties of Bi4-xNdxTi3O12 (x = 0.46) thin films processed at low temperature

Neodymium-substituted Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ (BNdT) thin films were prepared by a chemical solution deposition technique on platinum- coated silicon substrates. All of the samples were annealed at the relatively low temperature of 600 °C by a rapid thermal annealing process in different atmospheres, such as O₂, air, and nitrogen, and vacuum. Irrespective of different annealing atmospheres, all of the BNdT thin films exhibit good ferroelectric properties, such as a saturated hysteresis loop, good fatigue endurance, and low leakage current density. A large remanent polarization (P_r) of ∼48 μC/cm² with an electric field of 240 kV/cm was observed from the BNdT thin film annealed in O₂ atmosphere. The BNdT thin films annealed in nitrogen and vacuum, at reduced oxygen partial pressures, exhibit smaller P_r than that annealed in oxygen. The difference of P_r of the BNdT thin films annealed in different atmospheres may originate from differences in the grain sizes and the number of oxygen vacancies. PACS 77.55.+f; 77.80.-e; 77.80.Fm; 81.15.-z