Ultrathin MoSSe alloy nanosheets anchored on carbon nanotubes as advanced catalysts for hydrogen evolution

The activity of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) derives from the active sites at the edges, but the basal surface still remain catalytic insert. Herein, ultrathin MoSSe alloy nanosheets array on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to form a core shell structure via a simple solvothermal process. These three-dimensional (3D) MoSSe hybrids show a high activity in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with a small Tafel slope of 38 mV dec⁻¹ and a low overpotential of 102 mV at 10 mA cm⁻². In addition, their HER activity remains remarkably stable without significant decay after 100 h polarization. Such superior catalytic HER activity springs from the 3D hierarchical heterostructure, which is abundant of catalytic edge sites, and the alloy effect between S and Se, which will create huge defects and strain to form vacancy sites on the basal plane. This strategy may open a new avenue toward the development of nonprecious high-performance HER catalysts.     

Cathodoluminescence mapping and thermoluminescence of Pr3+ doped in a CaTiO3/CaGa2O4 composite phosphor

In order to probe the properties of the one pot prepared composite phosphor of CaTiO₃ and CaGa₂O₄, cathodoluminescence mapping, thermoluminescence and lifetime measurements were carried out. The structural study showed both irregular and rod shaped particles, which match with CaTiO₃ and CaGa₂O₄, respectively, according the x-ray maps. The cathodoluminescence spectrum showed emission peaks from ³P₀→³H₄ and ¹D₂→³H₄ transitions, with the earlier transition completely absent in CaTiO₃:Pr emission at room temperature. The diffuse reflectance spectrum showed a shifted band of the inter-valence charge transfer from 360 nm to 388 nm, which is not observable for CaTiO₃:Pr³⁺and CaGa₂O₄:Pr³⁺. Additionally, the phosphorescence decay curve was recorded and the presence of electron trapping centers was confirmed using thermoluminescence spectroscopy.     

Development of efficient docking strategies and structure-activity relationship study of the c-Met type II inhibitors

c-Met is a transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase and an important therapeutic target for anticancer drugs. In the present study, we systematically investigated the influence of a range of parameters on the correlation between experimental and calculated binding free energies of type II c-Met inhibitors. We especially focused on evaluating the impact of different force fields, binding energy calculation methods, docking protocols, conformation sampling strategies, and conformations of the binding site captured in several crystallographic structures. Our results suggest that the force fields, the protein flexibility, and the selected conformation of the binding site substantially influence the correlation coefficient, while the sampling strategies and ensemble docking only mildly affect the prediction accuracy. Structure-activity relationship study suggests that the structural determinants to the high binding affinity of the type II inhibitors originate from its overall linear shape, hydrophobicity, and two conserved hydrogen bonds. Results from this study will form the basis for establishing an efficient computational docking approach for c-Met type II inhibitors design.     

Investigation of response of metro tunnels due to adjacent large excavation and protective measures in soft soils

The inevitable influence of large excavation in soft soils on nearby tunnels is of great concern in practice. In this paper, the influence of a nearby large excavation on existing metro tunnels of the Ningbo Metro Line 1 in sensitive soft soils is investigated and presented. Considerable displacement in the left tunnel closer to the excavation induced by the nearby excavation was revealed by field monitoring. Visible cracks and leakages were observed in left tunnel linings. Three dimensional numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the responses of the ground and left tunnel due to the adjacent excavation. The development of bending moment and displacement of the left tunnel during different construction stages of the nearby excavation is obtained. Then the interaction mechanism between the nearby excavation, surrounding soils and existing twin tunnels is investigated, which is of significance to the interpretation of the influence of the nearby excavation on the existing twin tunnels. Several protective measures for alleviating the influence of adjacent excavation on left tunnel are studied, including divided excavation, soil improvement and a cut-off wall. It is found that the left tunnel is influenced to varying degrees during different construction stages and the time effect is distinct for this large excavation in soft soils, which would be suggestive to engineers to pay more attention to the protection of adjacent tunnel during the crucial construction stages. The bending moment and displacement of the left tunnel is strongly related to the unloading effects and displacement of surrounding soils, which can be alleviated by means of proper improvement of excavation sequence. Comparatively, longitudinally divided excavation is more effective in protecting the left tunnel than soil improvement or a cut-off wall. This study is of certain reference value for protecting metro tunnels adjacent excavation in soft soils.     

Physicochemical and thermo physical characterization of CaO–CaF2–SiO2 and CaO–TiO2–SiO2 based electrode coating for offshore welds

This paper investigates the physicochemical and thermo-physical properties of CaO–CaF₂–SiO₂ and CaO–TiO₂–SiO₂ based electrode coating for welding offshore structures. Twenty-one electrode coating compositions have been formulated using extreme vertices design method. The coating was crushed to powder form. The powder was characterized for weight loss, density, specific heat, enthalpy, thermal conductivity, diffusivity, and specific heat. Coating's structural analysis was done using X-Ray Diffraction and Fourier transformation. X-Ray Fluorescence, Thermogravimetric Analyzer, and Hot disc have been used to characterize the coating mixture. The regression analysis has been used to study the effect of individual constituents and their binary, tertiary interactions on the properties. The obtained output of properties has been optimized using multi-response optimization.     

Thermal matching performance of a geothermal ORC system using zeotropic working fluids

The thermal matching performance analysis is conducted for a geothermal organic Rankine cycle system using zeotropic mixtures as working fluids. The constant isentropic efficiency is replaced by internal efficiency of an axial flow turbine with given size for each condition, and the zeotropic mixtures of isobutane and isopentane is used as working fluids of the organic Rankine cycle, in order to improve thermal match in evaporator and condenser. The results showed the use of zeotropic mixtures leads to the prominent thermodynamic first law and second law efficiencies, especially at high minimum temperature difference in evaporator (Δt₁), and there exists an optimal thermal performance at some certain mole fraction of isopentane in zeotropic mixtures (x) and Δt₁. The geothermal organic Rankine cycle with x of 0.2 and Δt₁ of 16 K shows the maximal thermodynamic first law and second law efficiency in this research. The geothermal organic Rankine cycle system using zeotropic mixtures shows the optimal overall thermal performance at some certain x, which is not necessary to be the point with the maximal temperature glide. The use of zeotropic mixtures is not always lead to a high thermal to electricity efficiency compared to the pure working fluid, and its overall net power output of P_ORC is even lower than the pure working fluids compositions at some certain x.     

Model for practical prediction of natural carbonation in reinforced concrete: Part 1-formulation

A model is proposed for prediction of natural carbonation in reinforced concrete (RC) structures, and is potentially applicable to existing and new RC structures. The major components of the model comprise mathematical functions applied to predict the influence of concrete composition, and environmental factors on natural carbonation.This paper introduces the model concept and explains its structure including derivation, optimization and calibration. Over 163 data sets taken from a 10-year carbonation study were used in the model development and calibration. Only the experimental data that were based on outdoor natural exposure environment were employed in this research. Also in this study, the proposed model is compared with fib-Model Code 2010 using carbonation predictions generated from 346 data sets involving real world, highway structures. It is shown that the proposed model is comparably accurate and involves mainly basic tests with no major anticipated costs.     

Combined Urea Complexation and Argentated Silica Gel Column Chromatography for Concentration and Separation of PUFAs from Tuna Oil: Based on Improved DPA Level

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n‐3), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) isomers (22:5n‐6 and 22:5n‐3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n‐3) derived from tuna oil were concentrated by three stages of urea fractionation at various crystallization temperatures and different fatty acid/urea ratios. Thereafter, polyunsaturated fatty acids concentrate containing comparatively enriched DPA levels was purified by argentated silica gel column chromatography. A product containing 22.2 ± 0.6 % EPA, 4.6 ± 0.0 % DPAn‐6, 5.9 ± 0.1 % DPAn‐3 and 42.3 ± 1.2 % DHA was obtained at 1:1.6 fatty acid/urea ratio (w/w) by crystallization at ?8 °C for 16 h, ?20 °C for 8 h, and ?8 °C for 16 h. A DPA isomer concentrate containing 26.1 ± 0.5 % DPAn‐6 and 22.3 ± 0.4 % DPAn‐3 was achieved by argentated silica gel chromatography in the 6 % acetone/n‐hexane solvent fraction (v/v), and the recovery of both fatty acids was 66.1 ± 3.2 and 70.7 ± 2.2 %, respectively. Furthermore, 91.9 ± 2.5 % EPA and 99.5 ± 2.1 % DHA with recoveries of 47.8 ± 2.0 and 56.7 ± 3.3 %, respectively, were obtained in various fractions.     

新型空心结构阻振质量的阻振性能实验

分析了薄板结构-刚性阻振质量的振动传递特性,研究了一种空心结构阻振质量的阻振性能,发展了薄板结构的阻振技术;设计了带近似等质量的空心与实心阻振质量的薄板结构实验模型,通过测试板结构的平均振动加速度,得到了阻振质量的阻振损失;对比研究了空心与实心阻振质量的阻振损失,分析了空心+实心二级阻振质量的减振效果,探讨了空心阻振质量填充颗粒阻尼对阻振性能的影响。结果表明:同等质量的空心阻振质量比实心阻振质量的阻振损失更大,且有效阻振频率向低频移动;空心+实心二级阻振质量仅略高于单级阻振质量的阻振损失;空心阻振质量内部填充颗粒阻尼,可有效提高减振效果,其阻振损失优于空心+实心二级阻振质量。