Photoionization studies of transition metal clusters: Ionization potentials of ScnO (n=5−36)

The photoionization efficiency (PIE) spectra and ionization potentials are reported for scandium cluster monoxides (Sc _n O,n=5–36). As found for other transition metal clusters, strong dependence of ionization potential on cluster size is found for small clusters, with the ionization potentials of larger clusters decreasing relatively smoothly with increasing size. The IPs are 0.6–0.8 eV lower than that predicted by conducting spherical droplet model.Performed at Argonne National Laboratory     

Numerical simulation of thermoconvective flows and more uniform depositions in a cold wall rectangular APCVD reactor

At atmospheric pressure, the usual flow conditions in the cold wall horizontal rectangular thermal CVD reactors correspond to steady longitudinal thermoconvective rolls that make non-uniform vapour depositions, in shape of longitudinal parallel ridges. In order to get more uniform depositions, the pressure is generally lowered under the atmospheric pressure to promote forced convection flows, instead of mixed convection ones. In the present paper, using three-dimensional direct numerical simulations, we propose and analyse a method to get uniform deposition without lowering the pressure in the reactor. It consists in adequately exciting the parallel thermoconvective rolls at channel inlet to make them unsteady, periodic and sinuous in order to get a uniform time average of the deposition. This method is shown to be adapted for the horizontal and rectangular APCVD reactors with large longitudinal and transversal aspect ratios, when the Reynolds number of the gas flow is O(100), whatever the value of the surface Damköhler number. This situation is encountered in the online or scrolling APCVD reactors used to deposit coatings on float glass in the flat glass industry for instance. The simulations are based on simplified models for the transport equations (Boussinesq model) and the kinetics of the heterogeneous reactions (deposition model of silicon from hydrogen and silane: SiH₄→Si+2H₂).     

Freeing the Polarons to Facilitate Charge Transport in BiVO4 from Oxygen Vacancies with an Oxidative 2D Precursor

The BiVO₄ photoelectrochemical (PEC) electrode in tandem with a photovoltaic (PV) cell has shown great potential to become a compact and cost‐efficient device for solar hydrogen generation. However, the PEC part is still facing problems such as the poor charge transport efficiency owing to the drag of oxygen vacancy bound polarons. In the present work, to effectively suppress oxygen vacancy formation, a new route has been developed to synthesize BiVO₄ photoanodes by using a highly oxidative two‐dimensional (2D) precursor, bismuth oxyiodate (BiOIO₃), as an internal oxidant. With the reduced defects, namely the oxygen vacancies, the bound polarons were released, enabling a fast charge transport inside BiVO₄ and doubling the performance in tandem devices based on the oxygen vacancy eliminated BiVO₄. This work is a new avenue for elaborately designing the precursor and breaking the limitation of charge transport for highly efficient PEC‐PV solar fuel devices.     

Preparation and optical properties of Cu2O hollow microsphere film and hollow nanosphere powder via a simple liquid reduction approach

In this work, we report a simple liquid reduction approach to prepare Cu₂O hollow microsphere film and hollow nanosphere powder with Cu(OH)₂ nanorods as precursor and ascorbic acid as the reductant at 60 °C. When Cu(OH)₂ nanorod array film grown on a copper foil is used as the precursor, Cu₂O thin film made up of hollow microspheres with average diameter of 1.2 μm is successfully prepared. When the Cu(OH)₂ nanorods are scraped from the copper foil and then used as the precursor, Cu₂O hollow nanosphere powder with the average diameter of 270 nm is obtained. The samples are characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and ultraviolet-vis light (UV-vis) absorption spectra. A possible formation mechanism of Cu₂O hollow spheres is discussed.     

Stability of solutions to a mathematical model for necrotic tumor growth with time delays in proliferation

In this paper, a mathematical model for a solid avascular tumor growth is studied. The model describes tumor growth with a necrotic core and a time delay in proliferation process. The model was proposed by Byrne and Chaplain, and was studied by M. Bodnar and U. Fory? (see [2]). Sufficient conditions which guarantee existence, uniqueness and stability of steady state are given. The results show that the dynamical behavior of the solutions of the model is similar to that of the solutions for the corresponding non-retarded problem under some assumptions. Our results partially improve the corresponding results given by M. Bodnar and U. Fory?. The results make the research for this model more perfect.     

Single-crystalline C60 nanostructures by sonophysical preparation: tuning hollow nanobowls as catalyst supports for methanol oxidation

Large-scale single-crystalline hollow nanobowls of pure C(60) were prepared by applying a sonophysical strategy in a binary organic solution. Through the simple adjustment of the concentration of the C(60) /m-xylene solution and the volume ratio of m-xylene to acetonitrile, C(60) nanorings, nanoplates, nanorods, and nanowires were also selectively synthesized. The promise of the C(60) hollow structures as Pt catalyst supports is heightened by the significantly enhanced catalytic activity toward methanol oxidation for a given amount of C(60) used, which demonstrates their potential application in fuel cells.     

Bowl-Assisted Ball Assembly for Solvent-Processing the C60 Electron Transport Layer of High-Performance Inverted Perovskite Solar Cell

Pristine fullerene C₆₀ is an excellent electron transport material for state-of-the-art inverted structure perovskite solar cells (PSCs), but its low solubility leaves thermal evaporation as the only method for depositing it into a high-quality electron transport layer (ETL). To address this problem, we herein introduce a highly soluble bowl-shaped additive, corannulene, to assist in C₆₀-assembly into a smooth and compact film through the favorable bowl-ball interaction. Our results show that not only corannulene can dramatically enhance the film formability of C₆₀, it also plays a critical role in forming C₆₀-corannulene (CC) supramolecular species and in boosting intermolecular electron transport dynamics in the ETL. This strategy has allowed CC devices to deliver high power conversion efficiencies up to 21.69 %, which is the highest value among the PSCs based on the solution-processed-C₆₀ (SP-C₆₀) ETL. Moreover, the stability of the CC device is far superior to that of the C₆₀-only device because corannulene can retard and curb the spontaneous aggregation of C₆₀. This work establishes the bowl-assisted ball assembly strategy for developing low-cost and efficient SP-C₆₀ ETLs with high promise for fully-SP PSCs.