Work function and negative electron affinity of ultrathin barium fluoride films

Thin films of barium fluorides with different thicknesses were deposited on GaAs substrate by electron beam evaporation. The aim of the work was to identify the best growth conditions for the production of coatings with a low work function suitable for the anode of hybrid thermionic-photovoltaic (TIPV) devices. The chemical composition and work function φ of the films with different thicknesses were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS). The lowest value of φ = 2.1 eV was obtained for the film with a thickness of ~2 nm. In the valence band spectra of the films at low kinetic energy, near the cutoff, a characteristic peak of negative electron affinity was present. This effect contributed to a further reduction of the film's work function.     

Effect of modified glass fiber on tribological performance of water-lubricated bearing

Glass fiber (GF) is becoming one of the most popular reinforcement materials used in many fields. However, it still has some disadvantages such as brittleness and poor wear resistance. In order to improve its tribological property, the GF was modified and use high-density polyethylene (HDPE) as the matrix material to verify it. In this work, friction tests of HDPE samples with seven different compositions of modified GF were carried out. Different working conditions were applied to determine the tribological properties and service life as used in water-lubricated bearings. Their friction coefficient, surface morphology, wear scar, wear quality and wear mechanism were investigated. The results showed that the modified GF could significantly improve the HDPE tribological properties. Moreover, the wear mechanism of pure HDPE was mainly adhesive wear and slight fatigue wear, and the composite material was mainly abrasive wear. The 30% GF composite material had the best wear resistance, its friction coefficient was reduced by 51.56% under 0.4 MPa and 500 r/min. The findings from this experiment will provide a new method for reducing friction and wear of water-lubricated bearings.     

Taba: A Tool to Analyze the Binding Affinity

Evaluation of ligand-binding affinity using the atomic coordinates of a protein-ligand complex is a challenge from the computational point of view. The availability of crystallographic structures of complexes with binding affinity data opens the possibility to create machine-learning models targeted to a specific protein system. Here, we describe a new methodology that combines a mass-spring system approach with supervised machine-learning techniques to predict the binding affinity of protein-ligand complexes. The combination of these techniques allows exploring the scoring function space, generating a model targeted to a protein system of interest. The new model shows superior predictive performance when compared with classical scoring functions implemented in the programs Molegro Virtual Docker, AutoDock4, and AutoDock Vina. We implemented this methodology in a new program named Taba. Taba is implemented in Python and available to download under the GNU license at https://github.com/azevedolab/taba . © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Distributed and multicore QuBiLS-MIDAS software v2.0: Computing chiral,fuzzy, weighted and truncated geometrical molecular descriptors based on tensor algebra

Advances to the distributed, multi-core and fully cross-platform QuBiLS-MIDAS software v2.0 ( http://tomocomd.com/qubils-midas ) are reported in this article since the v1.0 release. The QuBiLS-MIDAS software is the only one that computes atom-pair and alignment-free geometrical MDs (3D-MDs) from several distance metrics other than the Euclidean distance, as well as alignment-free 3D-MDs that codify structural information regarding the relations among three and four atoms of a molecule. The most recent features added to the QuBiLS-MIDAS software v2.0 are related (a) to the calculation of atomic weightings from indices based on the vertex-degree invariant (e.g., Alikhanidi index); (b) to consider central chirality during the molecular encoding; (c) to use measures based on clustering methods and statistical functions to codify structural information among more than two atoms; (d) to the use of a novel method based on fuzzy membership functions to spherically truncate inter-atomic relations; and (e) to the use of weighted and fuzzy aggregation operators to compute global 3D-MDs according to the importance and/or interrelation of the atoms of a molecule during the molecular encoding. Moreover, a novel module to compute QuBiLS-MIDAS 3D-MDs from their headings was also developed. This module can be used either by the graphical user interface or by means of the software library. By using the library, both the predictive models built with the QuBiLS-MIDAS 3D-MDs and the QuBiLS-MIDAS 3D-MDs calculation can be embedded in other tools. A set of predefined QuBiLS-MIDAS 3D-MDs with high information content and low redundancy on a set comprised of 20,469 compounds is also provided to be employed in further cheminformatics tasks. This set of predefined 3D-MDs evidenced better performance than all the universe of Dragon (v5.5) and PaDEL 0D-to-3D MDs in variability studies, whereas a linear independence study proved that these QuBiLS-MIDAS 3D-MDs codify chemical information orthogonal to the Dragon 0D-to-3D MDs. This set of predefined 3D-MDs would be periodically updated as long as new results be achieved. In general, this report highlights our continued efforts to provide a better tool for a most suitable characterization of compounds, and in this way, to contribute to obtaining better outcomes in future applications.     

Reduced eigensystem representation of the linear density-density response function

The linear density-density response function represents a formulation of the generalized density response of a molecular (or extended) system to arbitrary perturbing potentials. We have recently established an approach for reducing the dimension of the (in principle infinite) eigenspace representation (the moment expansion) and generalized it to arbitrary self-adjoint, positive-definite, and compact linear operators. Here, we present a modified representation—the reduced eigensystem representation—which allows to define a trivial criterion for the convergence of the approximation to the density response. By means of this novel eigensystem-like structure, the remarkable reduction of the dimensionality becomes apparent for the calculation of the density-density response function.     

初中化学教科书表格呈现方式及其教学功能价值的研究

以现行4个版本的义务教育化学教科书为研究对象,根据教科书中表格功能的不同,将其分为实验记录型表格、归纳总结型表格、习题型表格、资料卡片型表格等4类,对4类不同表格的教学功能价值进行了分析说明。并以沪教版为例,对当前初中化学教师使用教科书表格进行教学的情况进行了抽样调查与分析,由此提出3点教学建议。     

Modified bentonite by polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane and quaternary ammonium salt and adsorption characteristics for dye

To remove methylene blue dye from water by adsorption, bentonites were modified by polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) and three kind of quaternary ammonium surfactants (dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide, tetrabutyl ammonium bromide, cetyl trimethylammonium bromide) in aqueous solution. Systematic adsorption experiments were carried out, the adsorption mechanism was studied, and the factors governing the adsorption of methylene blue on modified bentonite were discussed. The adsorption capacity of methylene blue on all three modified bentonites in 1000 mg·L⁻¹ solutions quickly reached equilibrium within 2000 s, and the removal rate was basically 100%; however, the removal rate in raw bentonite samples was only 60%. The pseudo second-order kinetic model can provide satisfactory kinetic data fitting. The obtained adsorption isotherms fit well with the Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm model. The thermodynamic results showed that the adsorption process was a spontaneous endothermic physical adsorption process. With increasing pH and KCl concentration, the removal of methylene blue increased significantly. The results of this study confirmed that the modified bentonite is a candidate material as a cationic dye adsorbent.     

Stretchable Perovskite Solar Cells with Recoverable Performance

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are a promising photovoltaic technology for stretchable applications because of their flexible, light‐weight, and low‐cost characteristics. However, the fragility of crystals and poor crystallinity of perovskite on stretchable substrates results in performance loss. In fact, grain boundary defects are the “Achilles’ heel” of optoelectronic and mechanical stability. We incorporate a self‐healing polyurethane (s‐PU) with dynamic oxime–carbamate bonds as a scaffold into the perovskite films, which simultaneously enhances crystallinity and passivates the grain boundary of the perovskite films. The stretchable PSCs with s‐PU deliver a stabilized efficiency of 19.15 % with negligible hysteresis, which is comparable to the performance on rigid substrates. The PSCs can maintain over 90 % of their initial efficiency after 3000 hours in air because of their self‐encapsulating structure. Importantly, the self‐healing function of the s‐PU scaffold was verified in situ. The s‐PU can release mechanical stress and repair cracks at the grain boundary on multiple levels. The devices recover 88 % of their original efficiency after 1000 cycles at 20 % stretch. We believe that this ingenious growth strategy for crystalline semiconductors will facilitate development of flexible and stretchable electronics.     

Electronic Stability of Bimetallic Au2@Cu6 Nanocluster: Closed-Shell Interaction and Multicenter Bonding

Metallophilic interaction is a unique type of weak intermolecular interaction, where the electronic configuration of two metal atoms is closed shell. Despite its significance in multidisciplinary fields, the nature of metallophilic interaction is still not well understood. In this work, we investigated the electronic structures and bonding characteristic of bimetallic Au\begin{document}$ _{2} $\end{document}@Cu\begin{document}$ _{6} $\end{document} nanocluster through density functional theory method, which was reported in experiments recently [Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 55 , 3611 (2016)]. In general thinking, interaction between two moieties of (CuSH)\begin{document}$ _{6} $\end{document} ring and (Au\begin{document}$ _{2} $\end{document}PH\begin{document}$ _{3} $\end{document})\begin{document}$ _{2} $\end{document} in the Au\begin{document}$ _{2} $\end{document}@Cu\begin{document}$ _{6} $\end{document} nanocluster can be viewed as a d\begin{document}$ ^{10} $\end{document}-\begin{document}$ \sigma $\end{document} closed-shell interaction. However, chemical bonding analysis shows that there is a ten center-two electron (10c-2e) multicenter bonding between two moieties. Further comparative studies on other bimetallic nanocluster M\begin{document}$ _{2} $\end{document}@Cu\begin{document}$ _{6} $\end{document} (M = Ag, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg) also revealed that multicenter bonding is the origin of electronic stability of the complexes besides the d\begin{document}$ ^{10} $\end{document}-\begin{document}$ \sigma $\end{document} closed-shell interaction. This will provide valuable insights into the understanding of closed-shell interactions.