| 1. |
- Beal, Jacob, et al.
(författare)
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Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density
- 2020
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Ingår i: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 3:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data.
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| 2. |
- Cao, Jian, et al.
(författare)
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Heterogeneous consecutive reaction kinetics of direct oxidation of H2 to H2O2: Effect and regulation of confined mass transfer
- 2023
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Ingår i: Chemical Engineering Journal. - : Elsevier. - 1385-8947 .- 1873-3212. ; 455
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Porous catalysts in heterogeneous reactions have played an important role in the modern chemical industry, but it is still challenging to quantitatively describe mass transfer and surface reaction behaviors of reactants in nano-confined space. Direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is considered as an attractive alternative to anthraquinone oxidation process, while the confined mass transfer of H2O2 in porous catalysts limits the reactivity. In this work, taking the consecutive reaction of H2O2 synthesis as an example, a quantitative method in modeling the effects of confined mass transfer on the reactivity was studied. More specifically, calorimetry was developed to characterize the confined structures of porous carbon experimentally, the linear nonequilibrium thermodynamics and the statistical mechanics method were further combined. Then, the heterogeneous consecutive reaction kinetics and the Thiele modulus influenced by confined mass transfer were modeled. Consequently, regulation strategies were proposed with the help of theoretical models. The optimized catalyst with biological skeleton carbon support and 0.5 wt% palladium loading shows an excellent catalytic performance. Lastly, for the mesoscience in heterogeneous reaction, the resistance was explored as a quantitative descriptor to compromise in the competition between mass transfer and surface reaction. The mesoscale structures were considered as the dynamic spatiotemporal distribution of substance concentrations, and the resistance minimization multi-scale (RMMS) model was proposed.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Li, Nannan, et al.
(författare)
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Phytolith and simulation evidence for precipitation-modulated vegetation dynamics along the East Asian monsoon margin
- 2022
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Ingår i: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0031-0182. ; 590
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An improved understanding of past interactions between terrestrial vegetation and various forcings, such as climate change, human impact, and paleofire, is crucial for assessing impacts of future global change on terrestrial ecosystems. This study seeks to find the key factor or factors that have driven Holocene vegetation change along the East Asian monsoon margin. Several high-resolution pollen records are reviewed and new phytolith-based paleovegetation reconstructions and physical geochemical datasets are presented from a peatland in northeastern China. Using 108 modern topsoil samples as a training set, canopy cover and vegetation composition are estimated for the period since 5100 cal. yr BP. Variation partitioning analysis (VPA) is used to determine the relative importance of climate change, human impacts, and paleofire disturbance. The generalized dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS is forced with climate anomaly output from an atmospheric general circulation model to simulate vegetation dynamics during the mid-Holocene and the pre-industrial era. The proxy-based estimates are compared to modelling output. Results indicate that regional tree cover varied from 10% to 40% during the past five millennia. The single-core, phytolith-based reconstructions are generally consistent with stacked tree pollen z-scores calculated from different records along the East Asian monsoon margin, implying that mid-Holocene tree cover decrease was persistent and almost synchronous over extensive areas. VPA demonstrates that long-term monsoon marginal vegetation successions were mainly caused by climate effects. Numerical modelling suggests that since the mid-Holocene the retreat of forests along the monsoon margin was primarily associated with precipitation deficits. Our investigation highlights that the precipitation associated with the East Asian monsoon system has exerted a stronger influence than the westerlies on the monsoon margin climate and vegetation change. With ongoing global change, close attention to variations in precipitation patterns and amounts should be especially helpful in efforts aimed at ecological monitoring, change prediction, and restoration.
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| 5. |
- Li, Shuixing, et al.
(författare)
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Unveiling structure-performance relationships from multi-scales in non-fullerene organic photovoltaics
- 2021
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2041-1723. ; 12:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Unveiling the correlations among molecular structures, morphological characteristics, macroscopic properties and device performances is crucial for developing better photovoltaic materials and achieving higher efficiencies. To achieve this goal, a comprehensive study is performed based on four state-of-the-art non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs), which allows to systematically examine the above-mentioned correlations from different scales. Its found that extending conjugation of NFA shows positive effects on charge separation promotion and non-radiative loss reduction, while asymmetric terminals can maximize benefits from both terminals. Another molecular optimization is from alkyl chain tuning. The shortened alkyl side chain results in strengthened terminal packing and decreased pi-pi distance, which contribute high carrier mobility and finally the high charge collection efficiency. With the most-acquired benefits from molecular structure and macroscopic factors, PM6:BTP-S9-based organic photovoltaics (OPVs) exhibit the optimal efficiency of 17.56% (certified: 17.4%) with a high fill factor of 78.44%, representing the best among asymmetric acceptor based OPVs. This work provides insight into the structure-performance relationships, and paves the way toward high-performance OPVs via molecular design. Understanding correlations between molecular structures and macroscopic properties is critical in realising highly efficient organic photovoltaics. Here, the authors conduct a comprehensive study based on four non-fullerene acceptors revealing how the extended conjugation, asymmetric terminals and alkyl chain length can affect device performance.
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| 6. |
- Li, Xiaofang, et al.
(författare)
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Roles of Acceptor Guests in Tuning the Organic Solar Cell Property Based on an Efficient Binary Material System with a Nearly Zero Hole-Transfer Driving Force
- 2020
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Ingår i: Chemistry of Materials. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 0897-4756 .- 1520-5002. ; 32:12, s. 5182-5191
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sub-picosecond hole transfer has been recently observed in several narrow band gap nonfullerene small-molecule acceptor (NFA)-based binary blended organic solar cell (OSC) systems operating with negligible energetic driving forces. As the driving forces are near zero, how the added acceptor/donor guests tune the barrier-free hole-transfer dynamics of these systems remains very unclear. In this study, we report a new NFA (BTCT-2Cl) that conducts a sub-picosecond hole transfer (2 ps) for efficient photocurrent generation when pairing with PM6 though the energetic offset is only 0.02 eV. We observe that the added nonfullerene and PCBM components differently tune the charge generation and recombination when selectively exciting BTCT-2Cl. After adding PC71BM, the hole transfer from the host BTCT-2Cl to the host donor is greatly accelerated, with the rate significantly reduced to 0.29 ps and the charge generation becomes more efficient; on the contrary, recombination is prolonged and a larger fill factor is obtained after adding an NFA guest, here, IT-4F. The different tuning on the host binary hole-transfer dynamics is likely related with the phase crystallinity and the domain size changed after adding different acceptor guests. Over 16% efficiency is obtained on the PC71BM-based ternary device that outperforms the host binary and the IT-4F-based ternary solar cells (both showing over 15% efficiencies). The results clearly demonstrate that adding PCBM or NFA guests enables a very effective and different tuning on the hole-transfer rates and the recombination rates between the barrier-free host binary components, hence leading to efficient tuning on the short-circuit current density and fill factor, which outlines new strategies toward designing high-efficiency ternary blended OSC systems.
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| 7. |
- Wang, Chao, et al.
(författare)
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The role of turbulence in high-mass star formation: Subsonic and transonic turbulence are ubiquitously found at early stages
- 2024
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 681
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. Traditionally, supersonic turbulence is considered to be one of the most likely mechanisms slowing the gravitational collapse in dense clumps, thereby enabling the formation of massive stars. However, several recent studies have raised differing points of view based on observations carried out with sufficiently high spatial and spectral resolution. These studies call for a re-evaluation of the role turbulence plays in massive star-forming regions. Aims. Our aim is to study the gas properties, especially the turbulence, in a sample of massive star-forming regions with sufficient spatial and spectral resolution, which can both resolve the core fragmentation and the thermal line width. Methods. We observed NH3 metastable lines with the Very Large Array (VLA) to assess the intrinsic turbulence. Results. Analysis of the turbulence distribution histogram for 32 identified NH3 cores reveals the presence of three distinct components. Furthermore, our results suggest that (1) sub-and transonic turbulence is a prevalent (21 of 32) feature of massive star-forming regions and those cold regions are at early evolutionary stage. This investigation indicates that turbulence alone is insufficient to provide the necessary internal pressure required for massive star formation, necessitating further exploration of alternative candidates; and (2) studies of seven multi-core systems indicate that the cores within each system mainly share similar gas properties and masses. However, two of the systems are characterized by the presence of exceptionally cold and dense cores that are situated at the spatial center of each system. Our findings support the hub-filament model as an explanation for this observed distribution.
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| 8. |
- Xia, Xinxin, et al.
(författare)
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Revealing the crystalline packing structure of Y6 in the active layer of organic solar cells: the critical role of solvent additives
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Materials Chemistry A. - : ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY. - 2050-7488 .- 2050-7496. ; 11:40, s. 21895-21907
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The bulk heterojunction (BHJ) morphology of photovoltaic materials is crucial to the fundamental optoelectronic properties of organic solar cells (OSCs). However, in the photoactive layer, the intrinsic crystalline packing structure of Y6, currently the hallmark molecule among Y-series non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs), has not been unambiguously determined. Here, employing grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS), we managed to uncover the intrinsic crystalline packing structure of Y6 in the BHJ active layer of OSCs, which is found to be different from its single-crystal structure reported previously. Moreover, we find that solvent additive 1-chloronaphthalene (CN) can induce highly ordered packing of Y6 in BHJ thin films. With the help of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations, it is revealed that pi-pi interactions generally exist between naphthalene derivatives and IC terminals of Y6 analogues, which would essentially improve their long-range ordering. Our work reveals the intrinsic crystalline packing structure of Y6 in the BHJ active layer as well as its crystallization mechanism in thin films, thus providing direct correlations between this crystalline packing and the device characteristics and photophysical properties.
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| 9. |
- Yao, Nannan, et al.
(författare)
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In Situ Study the Dynamics of Blade-Coated All-Polymer Bulk Heterojunction Formation and Impact on Photovoltaic Performance of Solar Cells
- 2023
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Ingår i: Solar RRL. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2367-198X. ; , s. 1-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have achieved impressive progress by employing acceptors polymerized from well performing small-molecule non-fullerene acceptors. Herein, the device performance and morphology evolution in blade-coated all-PSCs based on PBDBT:PF5–Y5 blends prepared from two different solvents, chlorobenzene (CB), and ortho-xylene (o-XY) are studied. The absorption spectra in CB solution indicate more ordered conformation for PF5–Y5. The drying process of PBDBT:PF5–Y5 blends is monitored by in situ multifunctional spectroscopy and the final film morphology is characterized with ex situ techniques. Finer-mixed donor/acceptor nanostructures are obtained in CB-cast film than that in o-XY-cast ones, corresponding to more efficient charge generation in the solar cells. More importantly, the conformation of polymers in solution determines the overall film morphology and the device performance. The relatively more ordered structure in CB-cast films is beneficial for charge transport and reduced non-radiative energy loss. Therefore, to achieve high-performance all-PSCs with small energy loss, it is crucial to gain favorable aggregation in the initial stage in solution.
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| 10. |
- Ye, Nannan, et al.
(författare)
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Determination of standard molar volume of 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide on titanium dioxide surface
- 2024
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Chemistry. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2296-2646. ; 12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The fluids near the solid substrate display different properties compared to the bulk fluids owing to the asymmetric interaction between the fluid and substrate; however, to the best of our knowledge, no work has been conducted to determine the interfacial properties of fluids experimentally. In this work, we combined a pycnometer with experimental measurements and data processing to determine the standard thermodynamic properties of interfacial fluids for the first time. In the study, 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([Hmim][NTf2]) and titanium dioxide (P25) were chosen as the probes to prove the concept. It was found that, with the combination of the Gay-Lussac pycnometer and the colligative law, together with selecting a suitable solvent, it is possible and reliable to determine the standard molar volume of the immobilized [Hmim][NTf2]. Compared to the bulk phase, the molar volumes of [Hmim][NTf2] on the P25 surface reduce by 20.8%–23.7% at temperatures from 293.15 to 323.15 K, and the reduction degrees decrease with increasing temperatures. The newly determined standard thermodynamic data was used to obtain the model parameters of hybrid electrolyte perturbed-chain statistical associating fluid theory density functional theory (ePC-SAFT-DFT), and further predictions of the density of interfacial ionic liquids with different film thicknesses were proved to be reliable in comparison with the experiment results.
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