Phosphorylated chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) based proton exchange membranes modified with propylammonium nitrate ionic liquid and silica filler for fuel cell applications

In our previous work, phosphorylated chitosan was modified through polymer blending with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) polymer to produce N-methylene phosphonic chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) (NMPC/PVA) composite membranes. The aim of this work is to further investigate the effects of a propylammonium nitrate (PAN) ionic liquid and/or silicon dioxide (SiO₂) filler on the morphology and physical properties of NMPC/PVA composite membranes. The temperature-dependent ionic conductivity of the composite membranes with various ionic liquid and filler compositions was studied by varying the loading of PAN ionic liquid and SiO₂-PAN filler in the range of 5–20 wt%. As the loading of PAN ionic liquid increased in the NMPC/PVA membrane matrix, the ionic conductivity value also increased with the highest value of 0.53 × 10^?3 S cm^?1 at 25 °C and increased to 1.54 × 10^?3 S cm^?1 at 100 °C with 20 wt% PAN. The NMPC/PVA-PAN (20 wt%) composite membrane also exhibited the highest water uptake and ion exchange capacity, with values of 60.5% and 0.60 mequiv g^?1, respectively. In addition, in the single-cell performance test, the NMPC/PVA-PAN (20 wt%) composite membrane displayed a maximum power density, which was increased by approximately 14% compared to the NMPC/PVA composite membrane with 5 wt% SiO₂-PAN. This work demonstrated that modified NMPC/PVA composite membranes with ionic liquid PAN and/or SiO₂ filler showed enhanced performance compared with unmodified NMPC/PVA composite membranes for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.     

Three-dimensional layered porous graphene aerogel hydrogen getters

Organic getters are often introduced into sealed systems to remove the excessive reactive hydrogen gas. In this work, the formable graphene aerogel hydrogen getters are prepared by integrating the alkyne-containing molecules (e.g., DEB) into the palladium-loaded three-dimensional layered porous graphene aerogel (Pd-GA). The performance of Pd-GA/DEB composite materials in reducing reactive hydrogen gas is examined at pressures of 0.1–1 bar at a temperature of 25 °C, and the hydrogen consumption is measured as a function of time. Results suggest that the hydrogen uptake capability of Pd-GA/DEB getters increases with the loading of Pd particles on the GA and the content of Pd⁰. The highest hydrogen absorption capacity is up to 215.5 cm³/g, and the hydrogenation rate of DEB molecules is 89.3%. This study promotes the fundamental understanding of solid-phase catalytic hydrogenation and the applications of 3D layered porous graphene aerogel in hydrogen absorption.     

Design of functionalized double-metal MXenes (M2M’C2T2: M = Cr,Mo, M’ = Ti,V) for magnetic and catalytic applications

Two dimensional (2D) materials have demonstrated huge potential in wide applications ranging from nanodevices to energy storage. In this work, we propose a series of double-metal MXenes functionalized with various terminal atoms (M₂M’C₂T₂), including B, N, O, P and S, based on density-functional theory (DFT) calculation. We screen out a series of stable structures and study their magnetic and electronic properties. We find that the magnetism of M₂M’C₂T₂ can be regulated according to different transition metals and terminal atoms. The magnetic moments of Cr₂TiC₂T₂ and Cr₂VC₂T₂ (T = N, O or S) are mainly contributed by chromium, while those of Mo₂VC₂T₂ (T = N, O or S) are originated from vanadium. We also find that these monolayers are metal with spontaneous conductivity, which is favorable for the electrocatalysis. The Gibbs free energies for the adsorption of hydrogen atoms on Cr₂TiC₂S₂, Cr₂VC₂S₂ and Mo₂TiC₂P₂ are close to zero, indicating their high catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Our findings suggest that the functionalized double-metal MXenes are promising materials for magnetic nanodevices and electrocatalysts.     

Highly active Ni/Co-metal organic framework bifunctional electrocatalyst for water splitting reaction

Rational design of electrocatalycally active materials with excellent performance for renewable energy conversion is of great interest. We have developed a nanosheet array of Ni/Co metal-organic framework (MOF) grown on CoO modified Ni foam (CoO/NF) substrate via the solvothermal process. The high surface area and low resistance of Ni/Co-MOF@CoO/NF (NC@CoO/NF) catalyst contribute to efficient water splitting. We have prepared a series of NC-n/CoO/NF (n = 1–4) catalysts to optimize the molar ratio of the Co atom in Ni MOF-74. Among them, NC-2@CoO/NF shows an excellent electrochemical performance in alkaline medium, i.e., low overpotential of 290 and 139 mV for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), respectively. For a two-electrode system with NC-2@CoO/NF, a low cell voltage of 1.54 V at 10 mA cm^?2 has been obtained for overall water splitting which is much smaller than that with commercial Ir/C– Pt/C pair. This excellent performance can be attributed to the synergistic effects of Ni/Co-MOF and CoO/NF. In addition, the as-prepared NC-2@CoO/NF exhibits excellent long-term stability. The computational simulation also supports experimental results.     

Co2FeO4@rGO composite: Towards trifunctional water splitting in alkaline media

Development of efficient, low cost and multifunctional electrocatalysts for water splitting to harvest hydrogen fuels is a challenging task, but the combination of carbon materials with transition metal-based compounds is providing a unique and attractive strategy. Herein, composite systems based on cobalt ferrite oxide-reduced graphene oxide (Co₂FeO₄) @(rGO) using simultaneous hydrothermal and chemical reduction methods have been prepared. The proposed study eliminates one step associated with the conversion of GO into rGO as it uses direct GO during the synthesis of cobalt ferrite oxide, consequently rGO based hybrid system is achieved in-situ significantly, the optimized Co₂FeO₄@rGO composite has revealed an outstanding multifunctional applications related to both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen counterpart (HER). Various metal oxidation states and oxygen vacancies at the surface of Co₂FeO₄@rGO composites guided the multifunctional surface properties. The optimized Co₂FeO₄@rGO composite presents excellent multifunctional properties with onset potential of 0.60 V for ORR, an overpotential of 240 mV at a 20 mAcm^?2 for OER and 320 mV at a 10 mAcm^?2 for HER respectively. Results revealed that these multifunctional properties of the optimized Co₂FeO₄@ rGO composite are associated with high electrical conductivity, high density of active sites, crystal defects, oxygen vacancies, and favorable electronic structure arisinng from the substitution of Fe for Co atoms in binary spinel oxide phase. These surface features synergistically uplifted the electrocatalytic properties of Co₂FeO₄@rGO composites. The multifunctional properties of the Co₂FeO₄@ rGO composite could be of high interest for its use in a wide range of applications in sustainable and renewable energy fields.     

Effect of micro-cracks on the in-plane electronic conductivity of proton exchange membrane fuel cell catalyst layers based on lattice Boltzmann method

Micro-cracks commonly occur on the catalyst layers (CLs) during the manufacturing of catalyst coated membranes (CCMs). However, the crack shape parameters effect on CLs in-plane (IP) electronic conductivity λ_s is not clear. In this work, the relationship between crack parameters and the λ_s is obtained based on the two-dimensional (2D) multiple-relaxation time (MRT) lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The LBM numerical model is validated by the normalized λ_s experiment applied on three different home-made cracked CLs, and the parameter study focus on crack width, length, quantity and phase angle are carried out. The results show that the decrease of λ_s has different sensitivity |k| to the parameters above. The crack width has little effect on λ_s decrease, and the |k_w| is 0.038. However, crack arm length and quantity show more significant impact, which |k_l| and |k_N| are 0.753 and 0.725, respectively. The CLs with different crack propagation directions show significant anisotropy on λ_s, and a 53.53% decrease in λ_s is observed between 0° and 90° crack phase angle change. To manufacture a high electronic conductivity CL, crack initiation and migration mitigation are highly encouraged.     

Chirping techniques for enhancing the performance of SOA-based UWB over fiber systems: An experimental demonstration

A phaser-based processing technique was adopted in an UWB over fiber system employing SOA. The target is to simultaneously reduce the ASE noise impact and nonlinear effects inherent to optical amplification. Experimental results prove the effectiveness of chirping in terms of cross correlation and bit error rate.     

Self‐Assembled Aptamer‐Nanomedicine for Targeted Chemotherapy and Gene Therapy

Chemotherapy is the mainstream treatment of anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). However, chemotherapy can cause severe adverse effects in patients because it is not ALCL‐specific. In this study, a multifunctional aptamer‐nanomedicine (Apt‐NMed) achieving targeted chemotherapy and gene therapy of ALCL is developed. Apt‐NMed is formulated by self‐assembly of synthetic oligonucleotides containing CD30‐specific aptamer and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)‐specific siRNA followed by self‐loading of the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin (DOX). Apt‐NMed exhibits a well‐defined nanostructure (diameter 59 mm) and stability in human serum. Under aptamer guidance, Apt‐NMed specifically binds and internalizes targeted ALCL cells. Intracellular delivery of Apt‐NMed triggers rapid DOX release for targeted ALCL chemotherapy and intracellular delivery of the ALK‐specific siRNA induced ALK oncogene silencing, resulting in combined therapeutic effects. Animal model studies reveal that upon systemic administration, Apt‐NMed specifically targets and selectively accumulates in ALCL tumor site, but does not react with off‐target tumors in the same xenograft mouse. Importantly, Apt‐NMed not only induces significantly higher inhibition in ALCL tumor growth, but also causes fewer or no side effects in treated mice compared to free DOX. Moreover, Apt‐NMed treatment markedly improves the survival rate of treated mice, opening a new avenue for precision treatment of ALCL.     

Finite element analyses of slope stability problems using non-associated plasticity

In recent years, finite element analyses have increasingly been utilized for slope stability problems. In comparison to limit equilibrium methods, numerical analyses do not require any definition of the failure mechanism a priori and enable the determination of the safety level more accurately. The paper compares the performances of strength reduction finite element analysis (SRFEA) with finite element limit analysis (FELA), whereby the focus is related to non-associated plasticity. Displacement-based finite element analyses using a strength reduction technique suffer from numerical instabilities when using non-associated plasticity, especially when dealing with high friction angles but moderate dilatancy angles. The FELA on the other hand provides rigorous upper and lower bounds of the factor of safety (FoS) but is restricted to associated flow rules. Suggestions to overcome this problem, proposed by Davis (1968), lead to conservative FoSs; therefore, an enhanced procedure has been investigated. When using the modified approach, both the SRFEA and the FELA provide very similar results. Further studies highlight the advantages of using an adaptive mesh refinement to determine FoSs. Additionally, it is shown that the initial stress field does not affect the FoS when using a Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion.     

改性类水滑石的制备及其去除溶液中Eu(Ⅲ)和U(Ⅵ)

通过水热合成法成功地制备了丙三醇改性Ni/Al型水滑石（GMH），并通过批量处理法和静态吸附法考察了在固体投加量、溶液pH、离子强度、腐殖酸、接触时间和温度等因素影响下，溶液中Eu(Ⅲ)和U(Ⅵ)在GMH上的吸附行为。采用扫描电镜(SEM)、红外光谱(FTIR)、X射线衍射(XRD)等表征手段对材料吸附前后进行分析，结合吸附动力学和热力学模型对吸附机理进行探讨。结果表明，溶液pH值对Eu(Ⅲ)和U(Ⅵ)在GMH上的吸附行为影响显著，在pH=7.0左右时吸附率达到最大；准二级动力学模型和Langmuir等温线模型可以很好地描述Eu(Ⅲ)和U(Ⅵ)在GMH上的吸附过程，且此过程是自发的、吸热的过程；实验条件下，GMH对溶液中的Eu(Ⅲ)和U(Ⅵ)的最大理论吸附量分别为511 mg/g和441 mg/g；GMH对溶液中Eu(Ⅲ)的吸附主要是通过静电相互作用、内层表面络合以及离子交换相互作用实现；而对U(Ⅵ)的吸附主要是通过静电相互作用和内层表面络合作用实现的。实验表明，合成材料在含低放废水的有效净化和修复方面具有很大的应用前景。