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.     

Ultrathin MoSe2 three-dimensional nanospheres as high carriers transmission channel and full spectrum harvester toward excellent photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical performance

MoSe₂ ultrathin nanospheres with three-dimensional network structure (MSS) were prepared by improved solvothermal method. These MoSe₂ nanospheres are only 10 nm in size and actually composed of ultra-thin MoSe₂ nanosheets with a thickness of only 2–3 molecular layers. Compared with the MoSe₂ nanosheets (6–8 molecular layer thicknesses) of the three-dimensional flower structure (MSF) prepared by ordinary hydrothermal method, the MSS are thinner resulting in higher specific surface area of 5 times than that of MSF, and the light absorption ability at all UV–vis spectrum is stronger. The photocatalytic and photoelectrochemistry results show that the photocatalytic activity of MSS is 17 times that of the MSF, and the photoelectrochemical performance is twice. The results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy confirmed that the MoSe₂ ultra-thin nanospheres with three-dimensional network structure have lower internal resistance and higher carrier transport and separation efficiency. In the most important three aspects that determine the photoelectrochemical performance of photocatalyst: specific surface area, light absorption capacity, carrier transport and separation efficiency, MSS exceed MSF. This three-dimensional network nanospheres structure can improve the performance of MoSe₂. This research successfully demonstrates the enhancement of the properties of MoSe₂ two-dimensional materials through structural regulation.     

Carbon membrane bridged ZnSe and TiO2 nanotube arrays: Fabrication and promising application in photoelectrochemical water splitting

In this work, a cascade structure among ZnSe, carbon membrane and TiO₂ NTAs was constructed precisely. This carbon membrane bridged ZnSe and TiO₂ composite exhibits excellent H₂ evolution activity, the H₂ evolution rate of ZnSe/C/TiO₂ NTAs (866.76 μmol/cm²) is about 6.95 times higher than that of pure TiO₂ NTAs (124.64 μmol/cm²) after 200 min irradiation. The introduction of carbon membrane can greatly facilitate the electron transfer from ZnSe to TiO₂, ZnSe/C/TiO₂ ternary composite exhibits the highest transient photocurrent density (1.05 mA/cm²) and the lowest impedance (677.6 Ω) among all the samples. Besides, the contact between TiO₂ and electrolyte is improved after introducing carbon membrane, therefore C/TiO₂ NTAs shows more positive flat band potential of (1.86 V) compared with TiO₂ NTAs (0.50 V). It is also found that pure carbon powder can achieve H₂ production under visible light irradiation, its sensitization effect can further improve photocurrent density of the composite under 500 nm light radiation, the electrons produced in carbon film can inject into TiO₂, and holes from TiO₂ can quickly transfer to carbon film, leading to excellent H₂ evolution efficiency.     

Enhanced bioactivity of Zanthoxylum schinifolium fermented extract: Anti-inflammatory,anti-bacterial,and anti-melanogenic activity

1. Download : Download high-res image (151KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

     

Work function difference of naphthyl end-capped oligothiophene in different crystal alignments studied by Kelvin probe force microscopy

The performance of organic semiconductor devices is strongly affected by the interface energetics at the junctions between the constituent materials. A large group of organic semiconductors consists of rodlike small molecules that crystallize upon deposition with a molecular orientation dependent on the specifics of the molecule–molecule and molecule–substrate interactions. By means of Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM), this work studies naphthyl end-capped oligothiophene, 5,50-bis(naphth-2-yl)-2,20-bithiophene (NaT2), deposited on samples of pristine ${\text{SiO}}_2$ and samples of graphene-covered ${\text{SiO}}_2$. The crystal molecular orientation of NaT2 is dependent on the substrate on which it is deposited. On ${\text{SiO}}_2$, the NaT2 molecules are predominately upright standing, forming crystallites with distinct terrace heights of $2.0\pm 0.1\text{nm}$. Measurements indicate formation of an initial wetting layer in the NaT2-${\text{SiO}}_2$ system for the upright standing molecules. When deposited on graphene, the molecules additionally form fibrous structures with heights of $10-115\text{nm}$ consisting of molecules lying down (face-on orientation). Using KPFM, a difference in the local contact potential difference (CPD) of upright standing NaT2 and face-on oriented structures on graphene is measured to be $-0.16\pm 0.04\text{V}$, indicating a work function difference between the two system configurations, which is confirmed through Density Functional Theory calculations.     

甲烷的自扩散系数的分子动力学模拟研究

运用分子动力学模拟方法研究了甲烷在较宽温度和压力范围的分子自扩散系数。结果表明,甲烷自扩散系数的模拟值与文献实验值吻合得较好。因此,可以采用分子动力学模拟来代替实验,获得高温高压条件下实验难以测量的甲烷自扩散系数。     

芘修饰芴衍生物PTF的结构和光学性质

采用量子化学方法研究了一种芘修饰芴衍生物PTF的结构和光学性质。结果表明,该化合物呈现蝴蝶型结构,空穴注入传输性能强,发蓝光,这在理论上进一步证实其可作为蓝光材料或空穴材料应用于OLED。     

氨基酸类铱(Ⅲ)配合物的合成、表征及对汞离子的识别

以4-(苯并[d]噻唑-2-基)-N,N-二甲基苯胺(1)、L-丝氨酸作为主配体和辅助配体,合成了一种新型环金属铱配合物(2),所有化合物的结构通过¹H NMR、MS和IR进行了表征确认。通过紫外吸收光谱和荧光发射光谱研究了铱配合物(2)的光物理性质,并采用含时密度泛函理论(TDDFT)对其最低能量电子跃迁和最低三重激发态进行了计算。而且铱配合物(2)的荧光发射光谱可选择性地被汞离子猝灭,暗示着此配合物可作为一种高效的turn-off型汞离子磷光传感器。     

NiSe as an effective co-catalyst coupled with TiO2 for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Construction of semiconductor heterojunctions can effectively accelerate the separation of photo-induced charge carriers and thereby enhance photocatalytic activity. Here, NiSe was used as an effective co-catalyst to construct an active NiSe/TiO₂ heterojunction for improving the photocatalytic H₂ production of TiO₂. The resultant 10%NiSe/TiO₂ heterojunction exhibited 11 times higher photocatalytic H₂-production activity than that of bare TiO₂. The NiSe/TiO₂ heterojunction and the photo-reduction of partial Ni²⁺ to Ni⁰ notably accelerated the separation and transfer of photo-excited electron-hole pairs, and thus resulted in obvious improvement of H₂-evolution activity. This work holds promise for the application of NiSe in photocatalysis as a high-efficiency photocatalytic cocatalyst.     

Synthesis of a N-doped mesoporous carbon as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction

A facile and effective approach was developed for the preparation of mesoporous Fe-NC by pyrolyzing the mixture of FeCl₂, urea, (NH₄)₂MoO₇, phthalic anhydride and SBA-15, during which the in-situ formation of iron phthalocyanine is confirmed. The obtained catalyst exhibits high catalytic activity towards ORR, whose half-wave potential can be 53 mV more positive than that of commercial Pt/C catalyst. Besides, the catalyst also exhibits high selectivity of four electron path, along with excellent stability and methanol tolerance in alkaline media. Based on the characterization results, we suggest, the higher surface areas, highly porous structures induced by SBA-15 addition, as well as high graphitic N content should be the proper origins for its outstanding catalytic performance.