Evaluation of Charged Defect Energy in Two-Dimensional Semiconductors for Nanoelectronics: The WLZ Extrapolation Method

Defects play a central role in controlling the electronic properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials and realizing the industrialization of 2D electronics. However, the evaluation of charged defects in 2D materials within first-principles calculation is very challenging and has triggered a recent development of the WLZ (Wang, Li, Zhang) extrapolation method. This method lays the foundation of the theoretical evaluation of energies of charged defects in 2D materials within the first-principles framework. Herein, the vital role of defects for advancing 2D electronics is discussed, followed by an introduction of the fundamentals of the WLZ extrapolation method. The ionization energies (IEs) obtained by this method for defects in various 2D semiconductors are then reviewed and summarized. Finally, the unique defect physics in 2D dimensions including the dielectric environment effects, defect ionization process, and carrier transport mechanism captured with the WLZ extrapolation method are presented. As an efficient and reasonable evaluation of charged defects in 2D materials for nanoelectronics and other emerging applications, this work can be of benefit to the community.     

Anti-neuraminidase activity of chemical constituents of Balanophora involucrata

Balanophora involucrata J. D. Hooker has been known to possess potential anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities; however, its antiviral activity has not been evaluated so far. In order to find new neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs), the neuraminidase (NA) inhibition activity of different B. involucrata extracts was evaluated. In this study, an in vitro NA inhibition assay was performed to identify which extract of B. involucrata exhibits (maximal) inhibitory activity against NA. Ultra high performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight–tandem mass spectroscopy (MS/MS) and molecular docking techniques were used to identify the specific compounds responsible for the anti-influenza activity of the extract, and to explore the potential natural NAIs. The ethyl acetate extract of B. involucrata exhibited significant inhibitory activity against NA with 50% inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) value of 159.5 μg/mL. Twenty compounds were identified according to the MS/MS spectra; among them two compounds (quercitrin and phloridzin) showed obvious inhibitory activity against NA, with IC₅₀ of 311.76 and 347.32 μmol/L, respectively. This study suggested that B. involucrata can be a potential natural source of NAIs and may be useful in the fight against ferocious influenza viruses.     

Recent Progress on Nickel-Based Oxide/(Oxy)Hydroxide Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Developing clean and sustainable energies as alternatives to fossil fuels is in strong demand within modern society. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is the efficiency-limiting process in plenty of key renewable energy systems, such as electrochemical water splitting and rechargeable metal–air batteries. In this regard, ongoing efforts have been devoted to seeking high-performance electrocatalysts for enhanced energy conversion efficiency. Apart from traditional precious-metal-based catalysts, nickel-based compounds are the most promising earth-abundant OER catalysts, attracting ever-increasing interest due to high activity and stability. In this review, the recent progress on nickel-based oxide and (oxy)hydroxide composites for water oxidation catalysis in terms of materials design/synthesis and electrochemical performance is summarized. Some underlying mechanisms to profoundly understand the catalytic active sites are also highlighted. In addition, the future research trends and perspectives on the development of Ni-based OER electrocatalysts are discussed.     

Measurement of Residual Dipolar Couplings of Organic Molecules in Multiple Solvent Systems Using a Liquid-Crystalline-Based Medium

Residual dipolar coupling (RDC), a robust anisotropic NMR parameter for structural elucidation of organic molecules, is only accessible in an anisotropic environment. Herein, we introduce a novel alignment medium based on the molecular self-assembly of oligopeptide amphiphile (OPA). This medium is compatible with different intermediate and polar solvent systems, such as CD₃OD, [D₆]DMSO, and D₂O. The preparation of the OPA-based medium is simple and rapid, while only very weak background signals were observed from OPAs. Furthermore, we show that the purity of OPA has only a minor influence on the quality of the RDC data. These advantages allow RDC measurements of organic molecules with different polarities and solubilities with high efficiency and accuracy.     

Structures and stability of Al<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">7</Emphasis></Subscript>C and Al<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">7</Emphasis></Subscript>N clusters

We report results of the atomic and electronic structures of Al₇C cluster using ab initio molecular dynamics with ultrasoft pseudopotentials and generalized gradient approximation. The lowest energy structure is found to be the one in which carbon atom occupies an interstitial position in Al₇ cluster. The electronic structure shows that the recent observation [Chem. Phys. Lett. 316, 31 (2000)] of magic behavior of Al₇C^- cluster is due to a large highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO-LUMO) gap which makes Al₇C^- chemically inert. These results have further led us to the finding of a new neutral magic cluster Al₇N which has the same number of valence electrons as in Al₇C^- and a large HOMO-LUMO gap of 1.99 eV. Further, calculations have been carried out on (Al₇N)₂ to study interaction between magic clusters. Received 28 July 2001     

Concentration-cancellation for the velocity fields in two dimensional incompressible fluid flows

We show that the weak-L ² limit of a sequence of solutions of the two dimensional incompressible Euler equation is still a solution, provided that a (strong) concentration set for the reduced defect measure has locally finite one dimensional Hausdorff measure in space and time.