Investigating TEP as a greener alternative to NMP in Ni-rich cathode fabrication

In the past decade,the surging demand for portable electronics,electric vehicles,and stationary energy storage grids has triggered a noticeable rise in the production of Li-ion batteries(LIBs).However,this swift rise is now hindered by relying on the use of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone(NMP),a repro-toxic solvent,in the current cathode processing of LIBs.To overcome this challenge,here we have investigated triethyl phosphate(TEP) as a greener alternative to NMP.The compatibility with polyvinylidene flu...     

Epitaxial growth triggered core-shell Pd@RuP nanorods for high-efficiency electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Ru with Pt-like hydrogen bond strength,knockdown cost(～1/3 of Pt),and eximious stability is a competitive replacement for Pt-based catalysts towards the hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) in water splitting.The design of Ru-based catalysts via interface construction,crystal phase control,and specific light element doping to realize the impressive promotion of limited activity and stability remains challenging.Herein,we report the fabrication of Pd@RuP core-shell nanorods(NRs) via an epitaxial grow...     

Application of an amphipathic molecule at the NiOx/perovskite interface for improving the efficiency and long-term stability of the inverted perovskite solar cells

The presence of defects and detrimental reactions at NiO_x/perovskite interface extremely limit the efficiency performance and long-term stability of the perovskite solar cells(PSCs) based on NiO_x.Herein,an amphipathic molecule Triton X100(Triton) is modified on the NiO_x surface.The hydrophilic chain of Triton as a Lewis base additive can coordinate with the Ni³⁺ on the NiO_x surface which can passivate the interfacial defects and hinder the d...     

Environmental Behaviors and Biological Effects of Engineered Nanomaterials: Important Roles of Interfacial Interactions and Dissolved Organic Matter

With the fast development of nanotechnology,reactive engineered nanomaterials(ENMs)are increasingly discharged into the environment,where they interact with environmental components and organisms and thus pose potential risks.The interactions-derived formation of nano-environmental and nano-bio interfaces determines environmental behaviors and biological effects of ENMs,and ubiquitous dissolved organic matter(DOM)is bound to impact the interfacial interactions and the resulted environmental risks.Herein,we systematically investigated adsorptive interactions between ENMs and various DOM representatives,and thereby demonstrated the effects of DOM on the aqueous suspension/aggregation,mobility in porous media,adsorption of contaminants,transformation,and biological accumulation and toxicity of ENMs.Overall,we conclude that natural DOM can in general expand environmental distribution of ENMs while limit their toxicity to organisms.     

Thermally-induced order-order transition of DNA-cationic surfactant complexes

Polyanionic DNA interacts with cationic amphiphiles to form electrostatic complexes exhibiting rich self-assembled structures. This type of complex has been considered as a nonviral carrier in gene therapy and as a template for nanostructure construction. Here we report a thermally-induced phase transition of the complexes of DNA with the mixtures of a cationic surfactant, dodecyltrimethyl bromide (DTAB), and a neutral lipid, dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE), in fully hydrated state. An order-order transition between a multilamellar (L(c)alpha) phase and an inverted hexagonal (H(c)II) phase was found to occur with the transition temperature adjustable by the DTAB-to-DNA base pair molar ratio (x) and DOPE-to-DTAB molar ratio (m). The stability of the L(c)alpha phase was enhanced at lower m and x, as the L(c)alpha-to-H(c)II transition temperature increased with the decreases of these two parameters. The suppression of -to- transition at lower x was attributed to the lower entropic gain from the counterion release due to the presence of uncomplexed DNA in the bulk solution.     

Routes to control of H2 Coulomb explosion in few-cycle laser pulses

We have measured coincident ion pairs produced in the Coulomb explosion of H2 by 8-30 fs laser pulses at different laser intensities. We show how the Coulomb explosion of H2 can be experimentally controlled by tuning the appropriate pulse duration and laser intensity. For laser pulses less than 15 fs, we found that the rescattering-induced Coulomb explosion is dominated by first-return recollisions, while for longer pulses and at the proper laser intensity, the third return can be made to be the major one. Additionally, by choosing suitable pulse duration and laser intensity, we show H2 Coulomb explosion proceeding through three distinct processes that are simultaneously observable, each exhibiting different characteristics and revealing distinctive time information about the H2 evolution in the laser pulse.     

Magnetic double resonance in force microscopy

Magnetic-resonance force microscopy is combined with cross-polarization and spin-decoupling NMR techniques to obtain double-resonance NMR signals of micrometer-scaled objects. The effective one-dimensional spatial resolution obtained in our experiments performed on a KPF6 single crystal sample is approximately 0.5 microm. The spectral linewidth of 900 Hz is sample limited. The described double-resonance techniques can introduce new chemical specificity to the magnetic-force sensor.     

Periodic synchronization in a system of coupled phase oscillators with attractive and repulsive interactions

In this study we investigate the collective behavior of the generalized Kuramoto model with an external pinning force in which oscillators with positive and negative coupling strengths are conformists and contrarians, respectively. We focus on a situation in which the natural frequencies of the oscillators follow a uniform probability density. By numerically simulating the model, it is shown that the model supports multistable synchronized states such as a traveling wave state, π state and periodic synchronous state: an oscillating π state. The oscillating π state may be characterized by the phase distribution oscillating in a confined region and the phase difference between conformists and contrarians oscillating around π periodically. In addition, we present the parameter space of the oscillating π state and traveling wave state of the model.     

Physical properties of SrSn(4) single crystals

We present detailed thermodynamic and transport measurements on single crystals of the recently discovered binary intermetallic superconductor, SrSn(4). We find this material to be a slightly anisotropic three-dimensional, strongly coupled, possibly multiband, superconductor. Hydrostatic pressure causes a decrease in the superconducting transition temperature at the rate of ≈?-?0.068?K?kbar(-1). Band structure calculations are consistent with experimental data on the Sommerfeld coefficient and upper superconducting critical field anisotropy, and suggest a complex, multi-sheet Fermi surface formed by four bands.