Indium-doped ZnOas efficient photosensitive material for sunlight driven hydrogen generation and DSSC applications: integrated experimental and computational approach

Electricity generation using simple and cheap dye-sensitized solar cells and photocatalytic water splitting to produce future fuel, hydrogen, directly under natural sunlight fascinated the researchers worldwide. Herein, synthesis of indium-doped wurtzite ZnO nanostructures with varying molar percentage of indium from 0.25 to 3.0% with concomitant characterization indicating wurtzite structure is reported. The shift of (002) reflection plane to higher 2θ degree with increase in indium-doping thus is a clear evidence of doping of indium in zinc oxide nanoparticles. Surface morphological as well as microstructural studies of In@ZnO exhibited generation of ZnO nanoparticles and nanoplates of diameter 10–30 nm. The structures have been correlated well using computational density functional (DFT) studies. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy depicted the extended absorbance of these materials in the visible region. Hence, the photocatalytic activity towards hydrogen generation from water under natural sunlight as well as efficient DSSC fabrication of these newly synthesized materials has been demonstrated. In-doped ZnO exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity towards hydrogen evolution (2465 μmol/h/g) via water splitting under natural sunlight. DSSC fabricated using 2% In-doped ZnO exhibited an efficiency of 3.46% which is higher than other reported In-doped ZnO based DSSCs.

     

Asymmetric Gold‐Catalyzed Lactonizations in Water at Room Temperature

Asymmetric gold‐catalyzed hydrocarboxylations are reported that show broad substrate scope. The hydrophobic effect associated with in situ‐formed aqueous nanomicelles gives good to excellent ee’s of product lactones. In‐flask product isolation, along with the recycling of the catalyst and the reaction medium, are combined to arrive at an especially environmentally friendly process.     

The integrable Boussinesq equation and it’s breather,lump and soliton solutions

The fourth-order nonlinear Boussinesq water wave equation, which explains the propagation of long waves in shallow water, is explored in this article. We used the Lie symmetry approach to analyze the Lie symmetries and vector fields. Then, by using similarity variables, we obtained the symmetry reductions and soliton wave solutions. In addition, the Kudryashov method and its modification are used to explore the bright and singular solitons while the Hirota bilinear method is effectively used to obtain a form of breather and lump wave solutions. The physical explanation of the extracted solutions was shown with the free choice of different parameters by depicting some 2-D, 3-D, and their corresponding contour plots.

     

Third body modeling in fretting using the combined finite-discrete element method

A new approach was developed for modeling the effect of the third body on fretting. This was accomplished using the combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM) in which the third body is analyzed as discrete elements while the first bodies are modeled using finite elements. This approach provides a link between large scale models which treat the mass of wear debris as a single or small number of bodies and small scale models which only study a control volume. The FDEM was used to analyze the behavior of third body particles between flat sliding surfaces. When the third body mass is composed of unconnected particles, it behaves as a Newtonian fluid, but this behavior ceases when the particles are connected into platelets. The FDEM was also used to study the behavior of third body particles inside a Hertzian line contact. As the number of particles and platelet size increase the load carried by the worn slip zone grows larger in relationship to the unworn stick zone.     

Ultrasound assisted regioselective sulfonation of aromatic compounds with sulfuric acid

A simple and convenient methodology for selective sulfonation of aromatic compounds using sulfuric acid under sonication is described. The present methodology shows a considerable enhancement in the reaction rate along with improved selectivity compared with the reactions performed under silent conditions. The effect of various parameters such as agitation speed, sulfuric acid concentration, and temperature on reaction system have been investigated and are explained on the basis of ultrasonically generated cavitational effects.     

The polarography of oximes: I. 9,10-Phenanthraquinone monoxime

Polarography of 9,10-phenanthraquinone monoxime has been carried out in buffers (pH 3.50 to 13.40) of constant ionic strength 0.5 M in 40% alcoholic solutions at 35 ± 0.5 °C. The oxime group underwent diffusion-controlled reduction (4e) over the whole pH range studied. The number of electrons involved in the reduction was found coulometrically as well as by incorporating the value of the diffusion coefficient, obtained by using a McBain-Dawson cell, into the Ilkovic equation. Controlled potential electrolyses and uv spectroscopic methods were used to identify the products. Koutecky's method was used to compute the kinetic parameters (αn_aand ?log k_f,h^o) for the reduction of the oxime group and reduction mechanisms are proposed.     

Dependence of CO oxidation on Pt nanoparticle shape: a shape‐selective approach to the synthesis of PEMFC catalysts

In real catalyst systems, it is difficult to establish a correlation between catalytic properties and the shape (crystal planes, corners and steps) of the active catalytic particles. In this paper we present a clear shape dependence of the catalytic properties of a Vulcan‐supported fuel cell catalyst having 4 nm cubo‐octahedral platinum(0) nanocrystallites with (111) and (100) surfaces stabilized by sodium polyacrylate. The electrode materials were characterized by CO‐stripping cyclic voltammetry and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), showing that no agglomeration had occurred among the nanoparticles on the catalyst surfaces. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.