Alkaline oxygen evolution: exploring synergy between fcc and hcp cobalt nanoparticles entrapped in N-doped graphene

Herein, we report a Mott-Schottky catalyst by entrapping cobalt nanoparticles inside the N-doped graphene shell (Co@NC). The Co@NC delivered excellent oxygen evolution activity with an overpotential of merely 248 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm^–2 with promising long-term stability. The importance of Co encapsulated in NC has further been demonstrated by synthesizing Co nanoparticles without NC shell. The synergy between the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) and face-centered cubic (fcc) Co plays a major role to improve the OER activity, whereas the NC shell optimizes the electronic structure, improves the electron conductivity, and offers a large number of active sites in Co@NC. The density functional theory calculations have revealed that the hcp Co has a dominant role in the surface reaction of electrocatalytic oxygen evolution, whereas the fcc phase induces the built-in electric field at the interfaces with N-doped graphene to accelerate the H⁺ ion transport.     

A General Catalyst Based on Cobalt Core–Shell Nanoparticles for the Hydrogenation of N-Heteroarenes Including Pyridines

Herein, we report the synthesis of specific silica-supported Co/Co₃O₄ core–shell based nanoparticles prepared by template synthesis of cobalt-pyromellitic acid on silica and subsequent pyrolysis. The optimal catalyst material allows for general and selective hydrogenation of pyridines, quinolines, and other heteroarenes including acridine, phenanthroline, naphthyridine, quinoxaline, imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine, and indole under comparably mild reaction conditions. In addition, recycling of these Co nanoparticles and their ability for dehydrogenation catalysis are showcased.     

Wide-range regulation of polyaniline conduction by interphase doping of a polyaniline film

The not-sufficient-enough conductance of semioxidized protonated polyaniline (PANI) is usually attributed to the presence of ordered quasi-metallic domains surrounded by a poorly conducting amorphous phase. The paper presents experimental results testifying to the existence, in semioxidized PANI, of multilevel redox heterogeneity that crucially effects the conductance magnitude in view of specific topology at which higher-oxidized (conducting) domains are surrounded by less oxidized (poorly conducting) domains and because the PANI conduction is extremely sensitive to the oxidation degree. It is shown experimentally that the interphase doping with metals and degenerate semiconductors of a semioxidized salt of PANI and poly(2-acrylamide-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid) (PAMPSA) with a 1: 2 ratio between PANI and PAMPSA raises the PANI-PAMPSA conductivity by 3–8 orders of magnitude due to the formation near the interface of thin layers whose conductance depends on the work function of the material in contact with PANI-PAMPSA and in extreme cases substantially exceeds the conductance of gold and copper at room temperature.     

ICP-AES同时测定混合矿物素中的磷、钙、铁、铜、锌、锰、镁、钴

采用ICP－AES法测定混合矿物素中的磷、钙、铁、铜、锌、锰、镁、钴元素含量，并对样品的溶解酸和酸用量、元素分析线的选择以及共存元素间的干扰进行了研究。该法简便、快速，精密度和准确度较好。     

Study of the pulsed laser vapor doping of Si(1 0 0) with KrF excimer laser and BCl3 gas

The properties of pulsed laser vapor doping on p-Si(1 0 0) with a KrF (248 nm) excimer pulsed laser (248 nm) and BCl₃ gas are reported in this paper. The doped samples are characterized by the resistance measured using a four-probe method, since the sheet resistance changes with the carrier concentration of the sample. The doping effects with the variation of laser energy density, pulse number, and the pressure of BCl₃ were investigated in terms of the sheet resistance. In this way, the optimized parameters were obtained and used for the positive heavy doping on p-Si(1 0 0) and p-Si(1 1 1). Then, using a square mesh under the above conditions, an image doping was completed. Finally, the metal–semiconductor Ohmic contacts were realized by plating Ag and Cu films on the doped surface.     

有机薄膜器件负电阻特性的影响因素

研究了影响有机染料掺杂聚合物薄膜器件负电阻特性的因素，为探索有机负电阻的机理提供实验依据。实验中制备了多种有机染料掺杂聚合物薄膜器件，研究了有机小分子染料、聚合物基体、薄膜组成及厚度、ITO和聚苯胺阳极等对有机染料掺杂聚合物薄膜器件负电阻特性的影响。在室温、大气环境下，所制备的多种有机染料掺杂聚合物器件在所加电压为3～4V时，观察到明显的负电阻特性，电流峰谷比最大约为8。负电阻现象及峰谷比的大小受膜厚和器件的结构、制备工艺等影响。提出用负电阻和二极管并联组成的等效电路模型解释影响负电阻特性的因素，认为负电阻特性与载流子的不平衡注入有关。在此基础上设计、合成了主链含唔二唑电子传输基团的可溶性聚对苯撑乙烯衍生物，该聚合物兼具空穴和电子传输功能，在空气中具有较稳定的N型负电阻特性。进一步控制相关材料和工艺条件，有可能得到易于控制的负阻效应，开发出新型的有机负电阻器件。     

Quantitative assessment of solid oxide electrochemical doping

Quantitative analysis of metal cation doping by solid oxide electrochemical doping (SOED) has been performed under galvanostatic doping conditions. A M–β″-Al₂O₃ (M=Ag, Na) microelectrode (contact radius: about 10 μm) was used as cation source to attain a homogeneous solid–solid contact between the β″-Al₂O₃ and doping target. In Ag doping into alkali borate glass, the measured dopant amount closely matched the theoretical value. High Faraday efficiencies of above 90% were obtained. This suggests that the dopant amount can be precisely controlled on a micromole scale by the electric charge during electrolysis. On the other hand, current efficiencies of Na doping into Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_y (BSCCO) ceramics depended on the applied constant current. Efficiencies of above 80% were achieved at a constant current of 10 μA (1.6 A cm⁻²). The relatively low efficiencies were explained by the saturation of BSCCO grain boundaries with Na. By contrast, excess Na was detected on the anodic surface of ceramics at a constant current of 100 μA (16 A cm⁻²). In the present study, we demonstrate that SOED enables micromole-scale control over dopant amount.     

Low-energy ion-assisted control of interfacial structures in metallic multilayers

A molecular dynamics method has been used to simulate the argon ion-assisted deposition of Cu/Co/Cu multilayers and to explore ion beam assistance strategies that can be used during or after the growth of each layer to control interfacial structures. A low-argon ion energy of 5–10 eV was found to minimize a combination of interfacial roughness and interlayer mixing (alloying) during the ion-assisted deposition of multilayers. However, complete flattening with simultaneous ion assistance could not be achieved without some mixing between the layers when a constant ion energy approach was used. It was found that multilayers with lower interfacial roughness and intermixing could be grown either by modulating the ion energy during the growth of each metal layer or by utilizing ion assistance only after the completion of each layers deposition. In these latter approaches, relatively high-energy ions could be used since the interface is buried and less susceptible to intermixing. The interlayer mixing dependence upon the thickness of the over layer has been determined as a function of ion energy.     

Energy levels in doped SiGe quantum well studied by admittance spectroscopy

SiGe/Si quantum wells (QWs) with different Boron doping concentrations were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on p-type Si(1 0 0) substrate. The activation energies of the heavily holes in ground states of QWs, which correspond to the energy differences between the heavy hole ground states and Si valence band, were measured by admittance spectroscopy. It is found that the activation energy in a heavily doped QW increases with doping concentration, which can be understood by the band alignment changes due to the doping in the QWs. Also, it is found that the activation energy in a QW with a doping concentration of 2 × 10²⁰ cm⁻³ becomes larger after annealing at a temperature of 685 °C, which is attributed to more Boron atoms activation in the QW by annealing.