Revealing the Effect of Surface Composition on Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Supported Pt-Fe Alloy Electrocatalysts for Methanol Oxidation Performance

The designs of efficient and inexpensive Pt-based catalysts for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) are essential to boost the commercialization of direct methanol fuel cells. Here, the highly catalytic performance PtFe alloys supported on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) decorating nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) have been successfully prepared via co-engineering of the surface composition and electronic structure. The Pt₁Fe₃@NC/MWCNTs catalyst with moderate Fe³⁺ feeding content (0.86 mA/mg_Pt) exhibits 2.26-fold enhancement in MOR mass activity compared to pristine Pt/C catalyst (0.38 mA/mg_Pt). Furthermore, the CO oxidation initial potential of Pt₁Fe₃@NC/MWCNTs catalyst is lower relative to Pt/C catalyst (0.71 V and 0.80 V). Benefited from the optimal surface compositions, the anti-corrosion ability of MWCNT, strong electron interaction between PtFe alloys and MWCNTs and the N-doped carbon (NC) layer, the Pt₁Fe₃@NC/MWCNTs catalyst presents an improved MOR performance and anti-CO poisoning ability. This study would open up new perspective for designing efficient electrocatalysts for the DMFCs field.     

Improving the robustness of spatial networks by link addition: more and dispersed links perform better

Nonlinear Dynamics - It is an effective way to improve network robustness by adding connectivity links. Although some addition strategies have been proposed, the addition cost in spatial networks...     

Real-time focus control in broad flat field laser material processing

Broad flat field laser scanning is critical to the success of laser material processing, used in techniques such as rapid prototyping & manufacturing (RP&M) and micro-machining. For these techniques it is necessary to produce high-performance optical systems that can fulfill the need for a smaller focused spot size over broad, flat field scanning areas. This paper concentrates on the issues of defocus error compensation. A dynamic focusing system is designed, intended primarily for broad flat field galvanometric laser scanning applications. Key technologies are described in detail; corresponding solutions have been used to design and produce a CO₂ infrared optical focusing system, which is capable of scanning a focused spot size of 120 μm or less over areas up to 500 mm².     

Synthesis and ionic conductivity of mixed substituted polysiloxanes with oligoethyleneoxy and cyclic carbonate substituents

New comb polysiloxanes with mixed substituents were synthesized by hydrosilylation of PMHS with 4-allyloxymethyl-[1,3]dioxolan-2-one and tri(ethylene glycol) allyl methyl ether (AMPEO₃). The effect of the incorporation of carbonate groups on ionic transport, viscosity and thermal properties has been investigated. When doped with lithium bis(trifluorosulfonyl) imide, LiTFSI, the mixed substituted polysiloxane polymers with varying carbonate content all exhibited conductivity higher than those for the polysiloxanes with pure carbonate or pure oligoethyleneoxy substituents. The maximum ambient conductivity in this series was 1.62× 10⁻⁴ S/cm, occurring for the polymer containing 8.5% polar carbonate groups at a doping level of EO/LiTFSI = 15. The impedance measurement results showed that polymers containing larger amounts of carbonate groups exhibited lower conductivity, probably because of their increased viscosity and higher glass transition temperature. The conduction mechanism for these new comb polymers obeys free volume theory, as indicated by conductivity data fit to the VTF equation. We dedicate this paper to Professor Dick Jones, polysilane pioneer and valued friend.     

Quantum chemistry study on the formation of OH radical for NO oxidation by heterogeneous Fenton reaction

The denitrification of low-temperature flue gas is a difficult problem facing the industry. OH radicals can effectually oxidize NO in flue gas, which can achieve denitrification of low-temperature flue gas. Heterogeneous Fenton reaction is an important method for the formation of OH radicals. A four-step reaction mechanism of the formation of OH radicals by heterogeneous Fenton reaction is proposed and investigated in this paper. Theoretical results show that activation energy of the formation of OH radicals catalyzed by ZSM5-Si/Fe is much lower than that without catalyst. After doping Al/Ce/Ti, the activation energy is further reduced significantly. The activity is related to the active center atom of the catalyst. By comparing, ZSM5-Ce/Al–Fe has better catalytic performance because of its more fluffy structure. This study would provide an important theoretical reference for the design of the catalysts in heterogeneous Fenton reaction and their industrial applications.     

Impact of core-periphery structure on cascading failures in interdependent scale-free networks

Core-periphery structure is a typical meso-scale structure in networks. Previous studies on core-periphery structure mainly focus on the improvement of detection methods, while the research on the impact of core-periphery structure on cascading failures in interdependent networks is still missing. Therefore, we investigate the cascading failures of interdependent scale-free networks with different core-periphery structures and coupling preferences in the paper. First, we introduce an evaluation index to calculate the goodness of core-periphery structure. Second, we propose a new scale-free network evolution model, which can generate tunable core-periphery structures, and its degree distribution is analyzed mathematically. Finally, based on a degree-load-based cascading failure model, we mainly investigate the impact of goodness of core-periphery structure on cascading failures in both symmetrical and asymmetrical interdependent networks. Through numerical simulations, we find that with the same average degree, the networks with weak core-periphery structure will be more robust, while the initial load on node will influence the improvement of robustness. In addition, we also find that the inter-similarity coupling performs better than random coupling. These findings may be helpful for building resilient interdependent networks.     

Cyclic polling-based dynamic wavelength and bandwidth allocation in wavelength division multiplexing passive optical networks

Cyclic polling-based dynamic wavelength and bandwidth allocation algorithm supporting differentiated classes of services in wavelength division multiplexing （WDM） passive optical networks （PONs） is proposed. In this algorithm, the optical line terminal （OLT） polls for optical network unit （ONU） requests to transmit data in a cyclic manner. Services are categorized into three classes： expedited forward （EF） priority, assured forwarding （AF） priority, and best effort （BE） priority. The OLT assigns bandwidth for different priorities with different strategies. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm saves a lot of downstream bandwidth under low load and does not show the light-load penalty compared with the simultaneous and interleaved polling schemes.     

Some stochastic comparisons of conditional coherent systems

This paper investigates coherent systems with independent and identical components. Stochastic comparison on the residual life and the inactivity time of two systems with stochastically ordered signatures is conducted. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantum chemistry study on the mechanism of the reaction between ozone and 2,3,7,8‐TCDD

Despite of its fundamental importance, the mechanism of the reaction between ozone and dioxins are still lack detailed investigation so far. It is well-known that quantum chemical calculation is a well-established method for investigating chemical reactions. In this article, quantum chemical calculation was employed to investigate the mechanism of the reaction between ozone and dioxins, as exemplified by 2,3,7,8-TCDD. The theoretical study showed that, 2,3,7,8-TCDD was gradually destructed by ozone via six cleavages of the CC bonds. All the six cleavages of the CC bonds were calculated and discussed in detail based on the theoretical calculations by the UB3LYP/6-31G(d) method. At the same time, the energies of stationary points along the reaction process were calculated by the UMP2/6-311g(d,p)//UB3LYP/6-31G(d) method and the activation energy was obtained. The obtained activation energy was 12.25 kcal/mol, which was lower than that of the reaction between benzene and O₃(16.64 kcal/mol). This indicated that, by comparison with benzene, 2,3,7,8-TCDD could be more efficiently destructed by O₃. The reason for this result was also discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011