Strategy of improving the stability and detonation performance for energetic material by introducing the boron atoms

A novel stable energetic compound (E)‐1,2‐diamino‐1,2‐dinitrodiboron (DANB) was theoretically designed based on the structure of 1,1‐diamino‐2,2‐dinitroethene (FOX‐7). Atomization method in combination with Hess' law was used to predict the heat of formation. The detonation velocity (D) and detonation pressure (P) of DANB were approximatively estimated by using Kamlet–Jacobs equations. As a result, DANB has huge heat of formation (2013.5 kJ/mol) and specific enthalpy of combustion (?26.4 kJ/g). Furthermore, DANB possesses high crystal density (1.85 g/cm³) and heat of detonation (5476.0 cal/g), which lead to surprising detonation performance (D = 10.72 km/s, P = 51.9 GPa) that is greater than those of FOX‐7 (D = 8.63 km/s, P = 34.0 GPa) and CL‐20 (D = 9.62 km/s, P = 44.1 GPa). More importantly, DANB is very stable because its bond dissociation energy of the weakest bond (BDE = 357.8 kJ/mol) is larger than those of the most common explosives, such as FOX‐7 (BDE = 200.4 kJ/mol), CL‐20(BDE = 209.2 kJ/mol), HMX(BDE = 165.7 kJ/mol), and RDX (BDE = 161.4 kJ/mol). Therefore, our results show that DANB is a promising candidate for stable and powerful energetic material.     

Ultrafast Saturable Absorption of Core/Shell Colloidal Quantum Dots

Ultrafast saturable absorption (SA) materials that are capable of blocking the optical absorption under strong excitation have extensive applications in photonic devices. This work presents core/shell colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) which have the quantized energy levels, excellent band gap tunability, and possess significant SA performance. When the band gap is close to the pump pulse energy, the CQDs show significant resonant SA response. At the same excitation conditions, the core/shell CQDs dispersions show better SA response than graphene dispersions, and comparable to the recently reported molybdenum disulfide. The carrier dynamics of the SA of the CQDs is analyzed systematically. The research has also found that the two‐photon absorption of the CQDs show nearly cubic power law of the band gap, while the SA performance keeps almost the same in the nonresonant regime. Further, superior passive Q‐switched laser behavior is observed using the CQDs as a saturable absorber. The results directly reveal the physical processes of this basic problem and broaden the applications of CQDs in photonic devices.     

Synthesis of RGO/Cu8S5/PPy Composite Nanosheets with Enhanced Peroxidase‐Like Activity for Sensitive Colorimetric Detection of H2O2 and Phenol

In this paper, a novel strategy for the fabrication of reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/Cu₈S₅/polypyrrole (PPy) composite nanosheets with Cu₈S₅ nanoparticles and PPy layer anchored on the surface of rGO as peroxidase‐like nanocatalyst is reported. During the synthesis, graphene oxide (GO)/CuO composite nanosheets are prepared first and used as templates, then the sulfuration of CuO and polymerization of pyrrole are accompanied with the reduction of GO, resulting in ternary rGO/Cu₈S₅/PPy composite nanosheets. The synthesized Cu₈S₅ nanoparticles with a diameter in the range from tens to hundreds of nanometers are dispersed within PPy decorated rGO nanosheets. The resultant ternary rGO/Cu₈S₅/PPy composite nanosheets exhibit a higher peroxidase‐like catalytic activity toward the oxidation of 3,3′,5,5′‐tetramethylbenzidine in the presence of H₂O₂ than GO/CuO and rGO/CuS composite nanosheets, revealing a synergistic effect on their activity. The as‐prepared rGO/Cu₈S₅/PPy platform provides a simple colorimetric approach for the detection of H₂O₂ and phenol with a high sensitivity. This work offers a new way for the fabrication of rGO‐based nanocomposite with superior enzyme‐like activity, which displays great potential applications in biocatalysis and environmental monitoring.     

Yolk–Shell‐Structured Cu/Fe@γ‐Fe2O3 Nanoparticles Loaded Graphitic Porous Carbon for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Core–shell Cu/γ‐Fe₂O₃@C and yolk–shell‐structured Cu/Fe@γ‐Fe₂O₃@C particles are prepared by a facile synthesis method using copper oxide as template particles, resorcinol‐formaldehyde as the carbon precursor, and iron nitrate solution as the iron source via pyrolysis. With increasing carbonization temperature and time, solid γ‐Fe₂O₃ cores are formed and then transformed into Fe@γ‐Fe₂O₃ yolk–shell‐structured particles via Ostwald ripening under nitrogen gas flow. The composition variations are studied, and the formation mechanism is proposed for the generation of the hollow and yolk–shell‐structured metal and metal oxides. Moreover, highly graphitic carbons can be obtained by etching the metal and metal oxide nanoparticles through an acid treatment. The electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction is investigated on Cu/γ‐Fe₂O₃@C, Cu/Fe@γ‐Fe₂O₃@C, and graphitic carbons, indicating comparable or even superior performance to other Fe‐based nanocatalysts.     

A three‐crystal spectrometer for high‐energy resolution fluorescence‐detected X‐ray absorption spectroscopy and X‐ray emission spectroscopy at SSRF

A Johann‐type spectrometer for the study of high‐energy resolution fluorescence‐detected X‐ray absorption spectroscopy, X‐ray emission spectroscopy and resonant inelastic X‐ray scattering has been developed at BL14W1 X‐ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy beamline of Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The spectrometer consists of three crystal analyzers mounted on a vertical motion stage. The instrument is scanned vertically and covers the Bragg angle range of 71.5–88°. The energy resolution of the spectrometer ranges from sub‐eV to a few eV. The spectrometer has a solid angle of about 1.87 × 0^?3 of 4π sr, and the overall photons acquired by the detector could be 10⁵ counts per second for the standard sample. The performances of the spectrometer are illustrated by the three experiments that are difficult to perform with the conventional absorption or emission spectroscopy. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A convolutional neural network approach to calibrating the rotation axis for X‐ray computed tomography

This paper presents an algorithm to calibrate the center‐of‐rotation for X‐ray tomography by using a machine learning approach, the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). The algorithm shows excellent accuracy from the evaluation of synthetic data with various noise ratios. It is further validated with experimental data of four different shale samples measured at the Advanced Photon Source and at the Swiss Light Source. The results are as good as those determined by visual inspection and show better robustness than conventional methods. CNN has also great potential for reducing or removing other artifacts caused by instrument instability, detector non‐linearity, etc. An open‐source toolbox, which integrates the CNN methods described in this paper, is freely available through GitHub at tomography/xlearn and can be easily integrated into existing computational pipelines available at various synchrotron facilities. Source code, documentation and information on how to contribute are also provided.     

A compact permanent‐magnet system for measuring magnetic circular dichroism in resonant inelastic soft X‐ray scattering

A compact and portable magnet system for measuring magnetic dichroism in resonant inelastic soft X‐ray scattering (SX‐RIXS) has been developed at the beamline BL07LSU in SPring‐8. A magnetic circuit composed of Nd–Fe–B permanent magnets, which realised ～0.25 T at the center of an 11 mm gap, was rotatable around the axis perpendicular to the X‐ray scattering plane. Using the system, a SX‐RIXS spectrum was obtained under the application of the magnetic field at an angle parallel, nearly 45° or perpendicular to the incident X‐rays. A dedicated sample stage was also designed to be as compact as possible, making it possible to perform SX‐RIXS measurements at arbitrary incident angles by rotating the sample stage in the gap between the magnetic poles. This system enables facile studies of magnetic dichroism in SX‐RIXS for various experimental geometries of the sample and the magnetic field. A brief demonstration of the application is presented.     

SUT‐NANOTEC‐SLRI beamline for X‐ray absorption spectroscopy

The SUT‐NANOTEC‐SLRI beamline was constructed in 2012 as the flagship of the SUT‐NANOTEC‐SLRI Joint Research Facility for Synchrotron Utilization, co‐established by Suranaree University of Technology (SUT), National Nanotechnology Center (NANOTEC) and Synchrotron Light Research Institute (SLRI). It is an intermediate‐energy X‐ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) beamline at SLRI. The beamline delivers an unfocused monochromatic X‐ray beam of tunable photon energy (1.25–10 keV). The maximum normal incident beam size is 13 mm (width) × 1 mm (height) with a photon flux of 3 × 10⁸ to 2 × 10¹⁰ photons s^?1 (100 mA)^?1 varying across photon energies. Details of the beamline and XAS instrumentation are described. To demonstrate the beamline performance, K‐edge XANES spectra of MgO, Al₂O₃, S₈, FeS, FeSO₄, Cu, Cu₂O and CuO, and EXAFS spectra of Cu and CuO are presented.     

Pump−probe experiments at the TEMPO beamline using the low‐α operation mode of Synchrotron SOLEIL

The SOLEIL synchrotron radiation source is regularly operated in special filling modes dedicated to pump–probe experiments. Among others, the low‐α mode operation is characterized by shorter pulse duration and represents the natural bridge between 50 ps synchrotron pulses and femtosecond experiments. Here, the capabilities in low‐α mode of the experimental set‐ups developed at the TEMPO beamline to perform pump–probe experiments with soft X‐rays based on photoelectron or photon detection are presented. A 282 kHz repetition‐rate femtosecond laser is synchronized with the synchrotron radiation time structure to induce fast electronic and/or magnetic excitations. Detection is performed using a two‐dimensional space resolution plus time resolution detector based on microchannel plates equipped with a delay line. Results of time‐resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, circular dichroism and magnetic scattering experiments are reported, and their respective advantages and limitations in the framework of high‐time‐resolution pump–probe experiments compared and discussed.     

Mathias like criterion for the extender based Prikry forcing

We suggest a genericity criterion for the extender based Prikry forcing analogous to the Mathias genericity criterion for Prikry forcing.