Enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction in Sr doped BiFeO_3 by achieving the coexistence of ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism at room temperature

The perovskite transition metal oxide(TMO) has been considered in electrocatalysis for the modern clean energy technologies as its high electrochemical activity and low cost. The atomic scale engineering to the local stoichiometry of single crystal TMO provides a clue of the relation between electronic structure and catalytic performance. Here we report a hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) activity enhancement ~ 1761% of Bi_0.85Sr_0.15FeO_3 compared to the pure BiFeO_3. By the systemic investigation of the Sr doping level of Bi_1-xSr_xFeO_3(BSFO), it is found that the HER enhancement originates from the improvement of ferromagnetism of BSFO without obvious scarification of the ferroelectricity at the room temperature. The multiple ferroic orderings in BSFO are beneficial for HER activity, which offers the strengthen of hybridization of Fe 3d and O2 p orbitals from the view of ferromagnetism, and the assistance of electron drift by spontaneous electric polarization. Our study not only affords the strategy of developing multiple ferroic orderings in TMO, but also facilitates the atomic scale understanding of the improved HER activity.     

Comparison of the Structural Evolution of β Polypropylene during the Sequential and Simultaneous Biaxial Stretching Process

In this work, the lamellar structural evolution and microvoids variations of β polypropylene(β-PP) during the processing of two different stretching methods, sequential biaxial stretching and simultaneous biaxial stretching, were investigated in detail. It was found that different stretching methods led to significantly different lamellae deformation modes, and the microporous membranes obtained from the simultaneous biaxial stretching exhibited better mechanical properties. For the sequential biaxial stretching, abundant coarse fibers originated from the tight accumulation of the lamellae parallel to the longitudinal stretching direction, whereas the lamellae perpendicular to the stretching direction were easily deformed and separated. Those coarse fibers were difficult to be separated to form micropores during the subsequent transverse stretching process, resulting in a poor micropores distribution. However, for the simultaneous biaxial stretching, the β crystal had the same deformation mode, that is, the lamellae distributed in different directions were all destroyed, forming abundant microvoids and little coarse fibers.     

Discovery of β-Dihydroagarofuran-Type Sesquiterpenoids from the Leaves of Tripterygium wilfordii with Neuroprotective Activities

Nine undescribed dihydro-β-agarofuran sesquiterpenoid derivatives(1—9),along with a known analogue(10),were obtained from the leaves of Tripterygium wilfordii.Their gross structures were determined via extensive spectroscopic data,and the absolute configurations were elucidated by means of single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis and electron circular dichroism(ECD)techniques,which include ECD exciton chirality,octant rule of saturated cyclohexanone and comparison between the experimental and calculated ECD spectra.All the isolated compounds were tested for their neuroprotective activities against H2O2-induced cell injury in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells.Compounds 5 and 6 improved cell viability by 16.15%and 15.12%compared with the H2O2 treated group at 25μmol·L^-1,respectively.     

Donor-Acceptor Typed AIE Luminogens with Near-infrared Emission for Super-resolution Imaging

Aggregation-induced emission(AIE)luminogens(AIEgens)with high brightness in aggregates exhibit great potentials in biological imaging,but these AIEgens are seldom applied in super-resolution biological imaging,especially in the imaging by using the structural illumination microscope(SIM).Based on this consideration,we synthesized the donor-acceptor typed AIEgen of DTPA-BTN,which not only owns high brightness in the near-infrared(NIR)emission region from 600 nm to 1000 nm(photoluminescence quantum yield,PLQYs=11.35%),but also displays excellent photo-stability.In addition,AIE nanoparticles based on 4,7-ditriphenylamine-[1,2,5]-thiadiazolo[3,4-c]pyridine(DTPA-BTN)were also prepared with highly emissive features and excellent biocompatibility.Finally,the developed DTPA-BTN-based AIE nanoparticles were applied in the super-resolution cellular imaging via SIM,where much smaller full width at half-maximum values and high signal to noise ratios were obtained,indicating the superior imaging resolution.The results here imply that highly emissive AIEgens or AIE nanoparticles can be promising imaging agents for super-resolution imaging via SIM.     

In situ formed LiF-Li3N interface layer enables ultra-stable sulfide electrolyte-based all-solid-state lithium batteries

Sulfide solid electrolytes are promising for high energy density and safety in all-solid-state batteries due to their high ionic conductivity and good mechanical properties. However, the application of sulfide solid electrolytes in all-solid-state batteries with lithium anode is restricted by the side reactions at lithium/electrolytes interfaces and the growth of lithium dendrite caused by nonuniform lithium deposition.Herein, a homogeneous LiF-Li₃N composite protective layer is in si...     

Scattering of Tollmien-Schlichting waves by localized roughness in transonic boundary layers

The laminar-turbulent transition in boundary-layer flows is often affected by wall imperfections, because the latter may interact with either the freestream perturbations or the oncoming boundary-layer instability modes, leading to a modification of the accumulation of the normal modes. The present paper particularly focuses on the latter mechanism in a transonic boundary layer, namely, the effect of a two-dimensional(2 D) roughness element on the oncoming Tollmien-Schlichting(T-S) modes when they propagate through the region of the rapid mean-flow distortion induced by the roughness. The wave scattering is analyzed by adapting the local scattering theory developed for subsonic boundary layers(WU, X. S. and DONG, M. A local scattering theory for the effects of isolated roughness on boundary-layer instability and transition: transmission coefficient as an eigenvalue. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 794, 68–108(2006)) to the transonic regime, and a transmission coefficient is introduced to characterize the effect of the roughness. In the sub-transonic regime, in which the Mach number is close to, but less than, 1, the scattering system reduces to an eigenvalue problem with the transmission coefficient being the eigenvalue; while in the super-transonic regime, in which the Mach number is slightly greater than 1, the scattering system becomes a high-dimensional group of linear equations with the transmission coefficient being solved afterward. In the largeReynolds-number asymptotic theory, the K′arm′an-Guderley parameter is introduced to quantify the effect of the Mach number. A systematical parametric study is carried out,and the dependence of the transmission coefficient on the roughness shape, the frequency of the oncoming mode, and the K′arm′an-Guderley parameter is provided.     

The symmetry and loading-independency of multiple inclusions enclosing uniform stresses in an infinite elastic plane

The identification of multiple interacting inclusions with uniform internal stresses in an infinite elastic matrix subjected to a uniform remote loading is of fundamental importance in the mechanics and design of particulate composite materials. In anti-plane shear and plane deformations, certain sufficient conditions have been established in the literature which guarantee uniform internal stresses inside multiple interacting inclusions displaying various symmetries when the matrix is subjected to specific uniform remote loading. Correspondingly, sufficient conditions which allow for the design of multiple interacting inclusions independent of any specific form of (uniform) remote loading have also been established. In this paper, we demonstrate rigorously that, in all cases, these sufficient conditions are also necessary conditions and indeed allow for the identification of all possible collections of such inclusions.     

A new ent-labdane eiterpenoid lactone from Andrographis paniculata

A new ent-labdane diterpenoid lactone with a new natural product was isolated from Andrographis paniculata. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectral evidences including 2D NMR.     

A New Ceramide from the Soft Coral Cladiella humesi Verseveldt

Ceramides are increasingly becoming important compounds because of their markedbiological activity. The 2000 International Gordon Research Conference on "Glycolipidand Sphingolipid Biology" will be held in May in italy. It has been recently found thatceramides inhibit Cholesteryl Ester Transfer Protein (CETP)'. Elevation in CETP leadsto atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases2. A literature survey showed that ceramideswere antifungal', and some of these showed antimicrobial and cytotox…