1. |
- Han, Ning, et al.
(author)
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Achieving Efficient Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution in Acidic Media on Yttrium Ruthenate Pyrochlore through Cobalt Incorporation
- 2023
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In: Advanced Functional Materials. - : Wiley. - 1616-301X .- 1616-3028. ; 33:20
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The development of electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) especially in acidic media remains the major challenge that still requires significant advances, both in material design and mechanistic exploration. In this study, the incorporation of cobalt in Y2-xCoxRu2O7−δ results in an ultrahigh OER activity because of the charge redistribution at eg orbitals between Ru and Co atoms. The Y1.75Co0.25Ru2O7−δ electrocatalyst exhibits an extremely small overpotential of 275 mV in 0.5 m H2SO4 at the current density of 10 mA cm−2, which is smaller than that of parent Y2Ru2O7−δ (360 mV) and commercial RuO2 (286 mV) catalysts. The systematic investigation of the composition related to OER activity shows that the Co substitution will also bring other effective changes, such as reducing the bandgap, and creating oxygen vacancies, which result in fast OER charge transfer. Meanwhile, the strengthening of the bond hybridization between the d orbitals of metal (Y and Ru) and the 2p orbitals of O will intrinsically enhance the chemical stability. Finally, theoretical calculations indicate that cobalt substitution reduces the theoretical overpotential both through an adsorbate evolution mechanism and a lattice oxygen-mediated mechanism.
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2. |
- Zhang, Wei, et al.
(author)
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Balancing Adsorption, Catalysis, and Desorption in Cathode Catalyst For Li–S Batteries
- 2023
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In: Advanced Energy Materials. - 1614-6832 .- 1614-6840. ; 13:43
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The complicated electrochemical catalytic conversion process of polysulfides in metal–sulfur batteries involves three steps: adsorption, catalysis, and desorption process. Even as huge efforts are made for the understanding of the separate steps (especially for the adsorption and catalysis process), research focusing on the entire process is still scarce. Herein, a series of cobalt phosphides (CoP, CoP2, and CoP3) is employed with identical hollow morphology as model electrocatalysts to investigate the significance of the desorption process and discuss the balancing among the adsorption, catalysis, and desorption of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs). The experimental data demonstrate that, compared to CoP and CoP3, CoP2 exhibits moderate adsorption of LiPSs, which enhances the reduction kinetics of S8 to Li2S and regulates the desorption of short-chain LiPSs. Theoretical calculations further confirm that CoP2 with moderate adsorption of LiPSs exhibits better redox kinetics of LiPSs compared to CoP and CoP3. Moderate adsorption enables the CoP2-based sulfur cathode to deliver excellent stability with 86% capacity retention (2.6 and 2.0 times higher than CoP and CoP3, respectively) over 1000 cycles at 1 C. All these results indicate that in the adsorption-catalysis-desorption chain for LiPSs, all steps need to be considered rather than just focusing on one step of the process.
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3. |
- Balpande, A. R., et al.
(author)
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Excellent specific strength-ductility synergy in novel complex concentrated alloy after suction casting
- 2024
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In: Materials and Design. - 1873-4197 .- 0264-1275. ; 242
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Lightweight alloys are known to improve the fuel efficiency of the structural components due to high strength-to-weight ratio, however, they lack formability at room temperature. This major limitation of poor formability is most of the time overcome by post-fabrication processing and treatments thereby increasing their cost exponentially. We present a novel Ti50V16Zr16Nb10Al5Mo3 (all in at. %) complex concentrated alloy (Ti-CCA) designed based on the combination of valence electron concentration theory and the high entropy approach. The optimal selection of constituent elements has led to a density of 5.63 gm/cc for Ti-CCA after suction casting (SC). SC Ti-CCA displayed exceptional room temperature strength (UTS ∼ 1.25 GPa) and ductility (ε ∼ 35 %) with a yield strength (YS) of ∼ 1.1 GPa (Specific YS = 191 MPa/gm/cc) without any post-processing treatments. The exceptional YS in Ti-CCA is attributed to hetero grain size microstructure, whereas enormous strength-ductility synergy is due to the concurrent occurrence of slip and deformation band formation in the early stages of deformation followed by prolonged necking event due to delayed void nucleation and growth. The proposed philosophy of Ti-CCA design overcomes the conventional notion of strength-ductility trade-off in such alloy systems by retaining their inherent characteristics.
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4. |
- Beal, Jacob, et al.
(author)
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Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density
- 2020
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In: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 3:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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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5. |
- Gong, Qingyuan, et al.
(author)
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Exploring the power of social hub services
- 2019
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In: World wide web (Bussum). - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1386-145X .- 1573-1413. ; 22:6, s. 2825-2852
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Given the diverse focuses of emerging online social networks (OSNs), it is common that a user has signed up on multiple OSNs. Social hub services, a.k.a., social directory services, help each user manage and exhibit her OSN accounts on one webpage. In this work, we conduct a data-driven study by crawling over one million user profiles from about.me, a representative online social hub service. Our study aims at gaining insights on cross-OSN social influence from the crawled data. We first analyze the composition of the social hub users. For each user, we collect her social accounts from her social hub webpage, and aggregate the content generated by these accounts on different OSNs to gain a comprehensive view of this user. According to our analysis, there is a high probability that a user would provide consistent information on different OSNs. We then explore the correlation between user activities on different OSNs, based on which we propose a cross-OSN social influence prediction model. With the model, we can accurately predict a user’s social influence on emerging OSNs, such as Instagram, Foursquare, and Flickr, based on her data published on well-established OSNs like Twitter.
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6. |
- Guo, Xingyi, et al.
(author)
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Identifying Novel Susceptibility Genes for Colorectal Cancer Risk From a Transcriptome-Wide Association Study of 125,478 Subjects
- 2020
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In: Gastroenterology. - : Elsevier. - 0016-5085 .- 1528-0012. ; 160:4, s. 1164-1178
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and Aims: Susceptibility genes and the underlying mechanisms for the majority of risk loci identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for colorectal cancer (CRC) risk remain largely unknown. We conducted a transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) to identify putative susceptibility genes.Methods: Gene-expression prediction models were built using transcriptome and genetic data from the 284 normal transverse colon tissues of European descendants from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx), and model performance was evaluated using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (n = 355). We applied the gene-expression prediction models and GWAS data to evaluate associations of genetically predicted gene-expression with CRC risk in 58,131 CRC cases and 67,347 controls of European ancestry. Dual-luciferase reporter assays and knockdown experiments in CRC cells and tumor xenografts were conducted.Results: We identified 25 genes associated with CRC risk at a Bonferroni-corrected threshold of P < 9.1 × 10-6, including genes in 4 novel loci, PYGL (14q22.1), RPL28 (19q13.42), CAPN12 (19q13.2), MYH7B (20q11.22), and MAP1L3CA (20q11.22). In 9 known GWAS-identified loci, we uncovered 9 genes that have not been reported previously, whereas 4 genes remained statistically significant after adjusting for the lead risk variant of the locus. Through colocalization analysis in GWAS loci, we additionally identified 12 putative susceptibility genes that were supported by TWAS analysis at P < .01. We showed that risk allele of the lead risk variant rs1741640 affected the promoter activity of CABLES2. Knockdown experiments confirmed that CABLES2 plays a vital role in colorectal carcinogenesis.Conclusions: Our study reveals new putative susceptibility genes and provides new insight into the biological mechanisms underlying CRC development.
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7. |
- Li, Xiaolong, 1991, et al.
(author)
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Solid solution softening at room temperature and hardening at elevated temperatures: a case by minor Mn addition in a (HfNbTi) 85 Mo 15 refractory high entropy alloy
- 2023
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In: Materials Research Express. - 2053-1591. ; 10:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To address the conflict between room-temperature (RT) ductility and high-temperature (HT) strength in single phase bcc-structured refractory high entropy alloys, here we propose to use minor alloying to achieve solid solution softening at RT and simultaneously, solid solution hardening at HT. Our strategy was manifested by minor Mn additions in a RT brittle (HfNbTi)85Mo15 refractory high entropy alloy, where nominal Mn additions ranging from 2 at. % down to 0.03 at. % were seen to soften the base (HfNbTi)85Mo15 alloy at RT, while to harden the base alloy at the temperature range from 400 to 800 °C. The yield stress in all studied alloys showed a three-stage pattern, characterized by a temperature dependent stage at temperatures below 400 °C, followed by a temperature independent stage at intermediate temperatures ranging from 400 to 800 °C, and finally another temperature dependent stage at temperatures higher than 800 °C. The mechanisms for solid solution softening and solid solution hardening in single phase bcc-structured refractory high entropy alloys were discussed, together with their temperature dependence.
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8. |
- Li, Xiaolong, 1991, et al.
(author)
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Solid solution softening or hardening induced by minor substitutional additions in a Hf 20 Nb 31 Ta 31 Ti 18 refractory high entropy alloy
- 2023
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In: AIP Advances. - 2158-3226 .- 2158-3226. ; 13:8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The effect of minor additions of substitutional elements such as Al, Cu, Mn, and Fe on the room-temperature (RT) and elevated-temperature hardness of a single bcc phase Hf20Nb31Ta31Ti18 refractory high entropy alloy is studied here. Interestingly, 2.5 at. % nominal addition of Fe hardened the base Hf20Nb31Ta31Ti18 alloy in the temperature range from RT to 800 °C, while the same nominal content of addition of Al, Cu, and Mn softened the base alloy from RT to 1000 °C. Regardless of solid solution hardening or solid solution softening, the hardness variation with temperature essentially showed the same three-stage pattern for all studied alloys here: a temperature-dependent decrease in hardness below 300 °C/400 °C, followed by a temperature-independent hardness plateau between 300/400 and 800 °C, and finally a temperature-dependent decrease in hardness at temperatures higher than 800 °C. The mechanism for solid solution hardening or softening in bcc-structured refractory high entropy alloys is discussed, together with their temperature dependence.
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9. |
- Lin, Ci, et al.
(author)
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Improving photocatalytic hydrogen generation of g-C3N4 via efficient charge separation imposed by Bi2O2Se nanosheets
- 2024
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In: Carbon. - : Elsevier. - 0008-6223 .- 1873-3891. ; 218
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Enabling highly efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production from solar-driven water splitting is of immense potential and environmental significance. However, the crucial issue of the low utilization efficiency of photogenerated charges in most photocatalysts, such as polymeric graphitic carbon nitride, g-C3N4 (CN), hampers the overall photocatalytic activity and hinders practical applications. To surmount this parasitic phenomenon, we develop a heterojunction-based strategy that improves the charge separation efficiency in CN. The heterostructure is constructed between thermally exfoliated CN and liquid phase exfoliated Bi2O2Se (BOS) via a solution-phase, electrostatically driven self-assembly process. The properly aligned band positions between the two components create a built-in electric field, which endows the composite with an enhanced charge separation efficiency. The optimized Pt-deposited heterostructure photocatalyst exhibits a hydrogen production rate of 6481 μmol h−1 g−1, and an apparent quantum efficiency of 11.65% at 420 nm, compared to those of Pt-deposited ECN (4595 μmol h−1 g−1, 6.64 %). We validate the efficient charge separation effect and the prolonged lifetime of photogenerated carriers in the heterostructure using a series of comprehensive characterizations across multiple timescales, thus, elucidating the origin of the observed photocatalytic activity. This demonstration offers valuable insights into improving the utilization efficiency of photogenerated charges for photocatalysis by heterostructure engineering with materials of distinct electronic configurations.
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10. |
- Long, Chang, et al.
(author)
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Regulating reconstruction of oxide-derived Cu for electrochemical CO2 reduction toward n-propanol
- 2023
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In: Science Advances. - 2375-2548. ; 9:43
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Oxide-derived copper (OD-Cu) is the most efficient and likely practical electrocatalyst for CO2 reduction toward multicarbon products. However, the inevitable but poorly understood reconstruction from the pristine state to the working state of OD-Cu under strong reduction conditions largely hinders the rational construction of catalysts toward multicarbon products, especially C-3 products like n-propanol. Here, we simulate the reconstruction of CuO and Cu2O into their derived Cu by molecular dynamics, revealing that CuO-derived Cu (CuOD-Cu) intrinsically has a richer population of undercoordinated Cu sites and higher surficial Cu atom density than the counterpart Cu2O-derived Cu (Cu2OD-Cu) because of the vigorous oxygen removal. In situ spectroscopes disclose that the coordination number of CuOD-Cu is considerably lower than that of Cu2OD-Cu, enabling the fast kinetics of CO2 reaction and strengthened binding of *C-2 intermediate(s). Benefiting from the rich undercoordinated Cu sites, CuOD-Cu achieves remarkable n-propanol faradaic efficiency up to similar to 17.9%, whereas the Cu2OD-Cu dominantly generates formate.
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