Atomic scale control of catalytic process in oxidation of Pb thin films

Using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), we demonstrate that oxidation on Pb films is greatly enhanced by atomic Cs catalysts. With only a minute concentration of isolated Cs substitutional atoms in the surface layer (0.004 ML coverage), surface oxidation rates are greatly enhanced. First-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that a substitutional Cs atom strongly increases O₂ binding on the surface. Then, with additional oxygen exposure this substitutional Cs-initiated oxidation process results in growth of PbO layers in an auto-catalytic manner. Furthermore, we investigate the role of temperature in the oxidation of the Pb films with and without Cs, and we explore the overall morphology of the resultant oxide layers.     

Spectroscopic analysis of Cr,Er:Gd3Ga5O12 crystals as candidates of potential xenon lamp pumped ~ 2.7 μm laser

A series of Cr,Er:Gd₃Ga₅O₁₂ crystals with high concentrations of Er^3 + were grown by Czochralski method. The absorption spectra, the up-conversion, near infrared (NIR) and mid-infrared (Mid-IR) luminescence spectra as well as the luminescence decay curves of Er: ⁴I_13/2 and ⁴I_11/2 levels were measured at room temperature. The spectroscopic properties of Cr,Er:Gd₃Ga₅O₁₂ crystals and Cr–Er energy transfer processes were investigated. The spectroscopy of the Er^3 +:⁴I_11/2 → ⁴I_13/2 transition was centralized to discuss, and the important optical parameters including luminescence lifetimes and the Cr–Er energy transfer efficiency are presented. Based on the comprehensive spectral analyses, 0.6 at.%Cr/50 at.%Er:GGG crystal is preferred as candidate of potential xenon lamp pumped ~ 2.7 μm laser in this work.     

Wavelet-based image denoising using variance field diffusion

Wavelet shrinkage is an image restoration technique based on the concept of thresholding the wavelet coefficients. The key challenge of wavelet shrinkage is to find an appropriate threshold value, which is typically controlled by the signal variance. To tackle this challenge, a new image restoration approach is proposed in this paper by using a variance field diffusion, which can provide more accurate variance estimation. Experimental results are provided to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed approach.     

钠硒电池关键材料的研究进展

钠硒电池中硒正极导电率高(1×10^-3 S/m),体积比容量高(3253mAh/cm³),而钠负极原材料资源丰富,成本低廉,在基站式储能方面具有一定优势.但是,循环过程中硒正极的穿梭效应及体积变化等问题极大限制了钠硒电池的发展.本综述总结了钠硒电池的基本原理和现存难题,并详细介绍了其研究进展,最后展望了钠硒电池的未来发展方向,以期为钠硒电池的进一步研究提供新的思路.     

防冰材料研究进展及其在风电领域的应用展望

新型防冰材料在风力发电领域具有非常广泛的应用前景。风机叶片表面的覆冰现象通常与冰的成核和冰生长两个因素息息相关。本文总结了本课题组在防冰材料方面的研究进展，包括抑制冰成核、防止冰生长、降低冰粘附力以及在低温与高湿等极端环境下具有光热除冰性能的防冰涂层。防冰材料技术的进步势必极大促进风电行业的发展，对我国的经济转型和能源结构调整具有重要意义。     

Ultra Robust and Highly Efficient Flexible Organic Solar Cells with Over 18 % Efficiency Realized by Incorporating a Linker Dimerized Acceptor

The wearable application of flexible organic solar cells (f-OSCs) necessitates high power conversion efficiency (PCE) and mechanical robustness. However, photoactive films based on efficient non-fullerene small molecule acceptors (NF-SMAs) are typically brittle, leading to poor mechanical stability in devices. In this study, we achieved a remarkable PCE of 18.06 % in f-OSCs while maintaining ultrahigh mechanical robustness (with a crack-onset strain (COS) of higher than 11 %) by incorporating a linker dimerized acceptor (DOY-TVT). Compared to binary blends, ternary systems exhibit reduced non-radiative recombination, suppressed crystallization and diffusion of NF-SMAs, and improved load distribution across the chain networks, enabling the dissipation of the load energy. Thus, the ternary f-OSCs developed in this study achieved, high PCE and stability, surpassing binary OSCs. Moreover, the developed f-OSCs retained 97 % of the initial PCE even after 3000 bending cycles, indicating excellent mechanical stability (9.1 % higher than binary systems). Furthermore, the rigid device with inverted structure based on the optimal active layer exhibited a substantial increase in efficiency retention, with 89.6 % after 865 h at 85 °C and 93 % after more than 1300 h of shelf storage at 25 °C. These findings highlight the potential of the linker oligomer acceptor for realizing high-performing f-OSCs with ultrahigh mechanical robustness.     

Highly sensitive liquid chromatographic method combined with online ion suppression to remove interfering anions and mass spectrometry for impurity profiling of paromomycin sulfate

A previously developed high-performance liquid chromatography method combined with pulsed amperometric detection allowed to separate many impurities of paromomycin. However, due to the presence of ion pairing agents and sodium hydroxide in the mobile phase, direct coupling to mass spectrometry for the identification of the chemical structures of the impurities was not an option. Indeed, ion suppression was encountered by trifluoroacetic acid and pentafluoroproponic acid in the mobile phase. A cation self-regenerating suppressor, which was originally designed for increasing analyte conductivity of ammonia and amines analysis in ion chromatography, was coupled between the liquid chromatography and ion trap-time of flight-mass spectrometry and almost all trifluoroacetic acid and pentafluoroproponic acid in the mobile phase was removed. The limit of detection of paromomycin in this integrated system improved significantly to 20 ng/ml (0.4 ng). The chemical structures of 19 impurities were elucidated and seven impurities were reported for the first time.     

Non-trivial Contribution of Carbon Hybridization in Carbon-based Substrates to Electrocatalytic Activities in Li-S Batteries

Appling an electrochemical catalyst is an efficient strategy for inhibiting the shuttle effect and enhancing the S utilization of Li-S batteries. Carbon-based materials are the most common conductive agents and catalyst supports used in Li-S batteries, but the correlation between the diversity of hybridizations and sulfur reduction reaction (SRR) catalytic activity remains unclear. Here, by establishing two forms of carbon models, i.e., graphitic carbon (GC) and amorphous carbon (AC), we observe that the nitrogen atom doped in the GC possesses a higher local charge density and a lower Gibbs free energy towards the formation of polysulfides than in the AC. And the GC-based electrode consistently inherits considerably enhanced SRR kinetics and superior cycling stability and rate capability in Li-S batteries. Therefore, the function of carbon in Li-S batteries is not only limited as conductive support but also plays an unignorable contribution to the electrocatalytic activities of SRR.