Amorphous-crystalline cobalt-molybdenum bimetallic phosphide heterostructured nanosheets as Janus electrocatalyst for efficient water splitting

Efficient and sustainable Janus catalysts toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are highly desirable for future hydrogen production via water electrolysis. Herein we report an active Janus electrocatalyst of amorphous-crystalline cobalt-molybdenum bimetallic phosphide heterostructured nanosheets on nickel foam (CoMoP/CoP/NF) for efficient electrolysis of alkaline water. As-reported CoMoP/CoP/NF consists of amorphous bimetal phosphide nanosheets doped with crystalline CoMoP/CoP heterostructured nanoparticles on NF. It can efficiently catalyze both HER (η = 127 mV@100 mA cm^?2) and OER (η = 308 mV@100 mA cm^?2) in alkaline electrolyte with long-term durability. Serving as anode and cathode of water electrolyzer, CoMoP/CoP/NF generates electrolytic current of 10, 50 and 100 mA cm^?2 at low voltage of 1.50, 1.59, and 1.67 V, respectively.     

Interface regulation effects on mechanical behavior of heterostructure Ti6Al4V/TiAl-based laminated composite sheets

Design of architectured composites with layered-ordered structure can solve the strength-toughness mismatch problem of structural materials. In the present study, heterostructure Ti6Al4V/TiAl laminated composite sheets with different thicknesses of interface layer and TiAl composite layer were successfully produced by hot-pressing technology. The effects of interface regulation and laminated structure on their mechanical properties, crack propagation, and fracture behavior were studied. The results indicated that compressive strength of the sheets increased with the decrease in interface thickness. Compressive strength of TiAl composite sheet with thicker composite layer reached 1481.55 MPa at the arrester orientation with sintering holding time of 40 min, which was 25.96% higher than that of the sheet obtained at 120 min. Analysis indicated that the interface area transferred stress through slip bands and through-interface cracks. Compressive strength at the divider orientation reached 1443.06 MPa, which was 45.78% higher than that of the sheet obtained at 120 min. In this case, the interface area transferred stress through slip bands and along-interface cracks. For TiAl composite sheets with thinner composite layer, compressive strength was further improved to 1631.01 MPa and 1594.66 MPa at the arrester and divider orientations with sintering holding time of 40 min, respectively. The ductile metal layer exerted a significant toughening effect. Both interface regulation and laminated structure transformation could enhance the hetero-deformation induced (HDI) strengthening and improve the comprehensive mechanical properties of the composite sheets.     

Energy storage performance of 0.55Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-0.45SrTiO3 ceramics doped with lanthanide elements (Ln = La,Nd, Dy,Sm) using a viscous polymer processing route

Lead-free bismuth sodium titanate-strontium titanate (NBT-ST) dielectric ceramic materials have been extensively investigated energy storage materials because of their relaxor characteristics. In this study, four different lanthanide elements were introduced into the ferroelectric NBT-ST ceramic to improve their relaxor properties. The introduction of the lanthanide resulted in an increase in disorder at location A within the perovskite lattice and improved relaxor characteristics, leading to a stored energy density of more than 3.5 J/cm³. In particular, an ultrahigh recoverable stored energy density of 4.94 J/cm³ and efficiency of 88.45% were achieved at 440 kV/cm when the NBT-ST ceramic was modified with neodymium. The modified ceramic also exhibited good thermal stability in the range of 30–120 °C, as well as a fast discharge time of ～153 ns, indicating that Nd-incorporated NBT-ST is a promising candidate for electrical energy storage ceramic.     

Amorphous carbon nitride thin films for electrochemical electrode: Effect of molecular structure and substrate materials

We report on the effect of molecular structure and substrate material on amorphous carbon nitride (a-CN:H) electrode properties including film adhesion to the substrate and electrochemical properties. Films were prepared by neutral beam enhanced chemical vapor deposition on different substrate materials (p-type Si, Cu, Ti, and Pt) below room temperature. When depositing on Si, doping nitrogen into carbon improved the electrochemical properties despite weak adhesion to the substrate. Nitrogen in a-CN:H formed two different bonding configurations: incorporation into aromatic carbon rings and hydrogen nitride by infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Therefore, delocalization of π bonds by incorporation of nitrogen affected the electrochemical improvement of the a-CN:H electrode. For samples deposited on a different metal substrate, the adhesion to substrate increased as a function of decreasing oxygen concentration on the metal substrate surface; the Pt substrate performed well with no delamination in our evaluation. The electrochemical properties were improved only in the case of deposition on Pt. Moreover, Pt surface modification by hydrogen beam was also effective; consequently, the electrochemical property of the a-CN:H electrode was superior to the graphite electrode with high temperature annealing. The observed increases in IR spectra of aromatic clusters were in line with the electrochemical improvements of a-CN:H.     

Single-Crystalline TiO2(B) Nanobelts with Unusual Large Exposed {100} Facets and Enhanced Li-Storage Capacity

The {100} facet of single-crystalline TiO₂(B) is an ideal platform for inserting Li ions, but it is hard to be obtained due to its high surface energy. Here, the single-crystalline TiO₂(B) nanobelts from H₂Ti₃O₇ with nearly 70% {100} facets exposed are synthesized, which significantly enhances Li-storage capacity. The first-principle calculations demonstrate an ab in-plane 2D diffusion through the exposed {100} facets. As a consequence, the nanobelts can significantly accommodate Li ions in LiTiO₂ formula with specific capacity up to 335 mAh g⁻¹, which is in good agreement with the electrochemical characterizations. Coating with conductive and protective poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate), the cut-off discharge voltage is as low as 0.5 V, leading to a capacity of 160.7 mAh g⁻¹ after 1500 cycles with a retention rate of 66% at 1C. This work provides a practical strategy to increase the Li-ion capacity and cycle stability by tailoring the crystal orientation and nanostructures.     

Depth profiles of the Fermi level at an amorphous-carbon nitride/SiO2/n-type-Si heterojunction interface obtained by Kelvin probe force microscopy

To explore the work function of a typical amorphous-CN film containing a nitrogen concentration of 23.5 at.%, surface potential images were acquired using Kelvin probe force microscopy. Based on the Fermi level of the n-type Si and the contact potential difference between the amorphous-CN film and the n-Si substrate, the work function of the amorphous-CN film was estimated to be 5.2 ± 0.2 eV below its vacuum level. Using the surface potential depth profile for an etched amorphous-CN film, energy diagrams of the amorphous-CN/SiO₂/n-Si interface were constructed based on the positional relationship of the Fermi level. These band diagrams showed that band bending occurred at the amorphous-CN/SiO₂/n-Si interface despite the Fermi level pinning effect of surface trapping due to the SiO₂ insulator layer.     

Spin-filter silicene devices induced by asymmetric electrodes

Using nonequilibrium Green's function in combination with the density functional theory, we investigate the spin-dependent transport properties of three silicene-based heterojunctions. The calculated results show that the heterojunctions are promising multifunctional devices in spintronics due to their nearly perfect bipolar spin-filter effect and high rectification ratio. Also shown are the obvious negative differential resistance behaviors for both spin channels. By analyzing the spin-resolved transmission spectra and the band structure of ZSiNR electrodes, as well as the spatial resolved local density of states, the mechanisms for these intriguing properties are demonstrated in detail.     

A low-cost and low-temperature processable zinc oxide-polyethylenimine (ZnO:PEI) nano-composite as cathode buffer layer for organic and perovskite solar cells

Nanocomposite buffer layer based on metal oxide and polymer is merging as a novel buffer layer for organic solar cells, which combines the high charge carrier mobility of metal oxide and good film formation properties of polymer. In this work, a nanocomposite of zinc oxide and a commercialized available polyethylenimine (PEI) was developed and used as the cathode buffer layer (CBL) for the inverted organic solar cells and p-i-n heterojunction perovskite solar cells. The cooperation of PEI in nano ZnO offers a good film forming ability of the composite material, which is an advantage in device fabrication. In addition, power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the ZnO:PEI CBL based device was also improved when compared to that of ZnO-only and PEI-only devices. The highest PCE of P3HT:PC₆₁BM and PTB7-Th:PC₆₁BM devices reached to 3.57% and 8.16%, respectively. More importantly, there is no obvious device performance loss with the increase of the layer thickness of ZnO:PEI CBL to 60 nm in organic solar cells, which is in contrast to the PEI based devices, whose device performance decreases dramatically when the PEI layer thickness is higher than 6 nm. Such a nano composite material is also applicable in inverted heterojunction perovskite solar cells. A PCE of 11.76% was achieved for the perovskite solar cell with a thick ZnO:PEI CBL (150 nm) CBL, which is around 1.71% higher than that of the reference cell without CBL, or with ZnO CBL. In addition, stability of the organic and perovskite solar cells having ZnO:PEI CBL was also found to be improved in comparison with that of PEI based device.     

One-pot synthesis of PdBi/reduced graphene oxide catalyst under microwave irradiation used for formic acid electrooxidation

The Pd and PdBi nanoparticles dispersed on the reduced graphene oxide (Pd/rGO and PdBi/rGO) have been synthesized through one-pot reaction under the irradiation of microwave and the obtained composites have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and their electrocatalytic activities have also been evaluated. It is found that the PdBi_0.05/rGO catalyst exhibits higher activity and better stability toward formic acid electrooxidation compared with Pd/C and Pd/rGO. The excellent electrocatalytic performance indicates that the addition of appropriate amount of Bi can greatly enhance the activity and stability of Pd catalysts for the formic acid oxidation.     

High triplet,bipolar polymeric hosts for highly efficient solution-processed blue phosphorescent polymer light-emitting diodes

Two polymeric hosts PCzTPP and PCzTPPO with twisted geometrical configurations for blue phosphorescent polymer light-emitting diodes (PhPLEDs) were designed and synthesized by incorporating electron-accepting carbazole units with electron-donating TPP/TPPO groups. This molecular design endows PCzTPP and PCzTPPO with high glass transition temperatures of 204 °C and 215 °C, high triplet energies of 2.72 eV and bipolar features. In addition, the HOMO and LUMO of these polymers matched well with the HOMO of the hole-transport layer and the Fermi level of cathode compared with PVK, which facilitated the injection of holes and electrons. PCzTPP- and PCzTPPO-based single-emissive-layer blue PhPLEDs were fabricated with simplified device configuration by solution process using FIrpic as a dopant. These devices exhibited lower turn on voltages (<8 V) than PVK-based devices (12 V). The maximum luminances of PCzTPP- and PCzTPPO-based devices were twofold and threefold that of PVK-based devices, and the maximum current efficiencies were nearly threefold and ninefold, respectively. Moreover, PCzTPPO-based solution processed blue PhPLEDs with improved configuration showed maximum current efficiency and external quantum efficiency of 14.5 cd/A and 6.6%, respectively.