Article
Chemistry, Physical
Dieter Plessers, Alexander J. Heyer, Hannah M. Rhoda, Max L. Bols, Edward I. Solomon, Robert A. Schoonheydt, Bert F. Sels
Summary: The industrial implementation of a direct methane-to-methanol process would bring about environmental and economic benefits. Copper zeolites can effectively catalyze this reaction at lower temperatures, especially mordenite zeolites which enable high methanol production. By changing the co-cation, a new method for simplifying the material is introduced, allowing for better analysis, which has implications for the study and tuning of heterogeneous catalysts in general.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Xinyue Wen, Tobias Foller, Xiaoheng Jin, Tiziana Musso, Priyank Kumar, Rakesh Joshi
Summary: Water transport through graphene oxide membranes is influenced by interactions between water molecules and impurities on the channel walls. Experimental results show that the slip length of nanochannels decay exponentially with the hydrated diameter of intercalated cations, confirming the governing role of interactions between water molecules and impurities on water transport.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Dinesh K. Behera, Bratin Sengupta, Fanglei Zhou, Mirco Sorci, Huazheng Li, Weiwei Xu, Qiaobei Dong, Georges Belfort, Miao Yu
Summary: A sequential coating method was used to fabricate a single-layered graphene oxide (GO) membrane with no or minimal stacking, allowing for effective separation of different model proteins by tuning the structural defect size via oxygen plasma etching. This finding may open up new opportunities for using GO flakes to fabricate nominal single-layered (NSL) membranes with tunable pores for applications in the biotechnology industry.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Revathi Kottappara, Shajesh Palantavida, Suresh C. Pillai, Baiju Kizhakkekilikoodayil Vijayan
Summary: A direct low-cost chemical reduction method is presented for the synthesis of the ternary Cu-Cu2O-CuO system, where the presence of graphene oxide helps limit the conversion of copper to copper oxide. The composition of the ternary system can be altered by adjusting the amount of copper precursor used, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction studies and XPS analysis of the synthesized nanocomposites. The enhanced catalytic efficiency of the composite nanostructures towards visible light photodegradation and hydride reduction reactions is attributed to the interaction between graphene sheets and copper, as well as the unique ternary composition of Cu2O-Cu-CuO.
SURFACES AND INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Eunji Choi, Sung Jun Hong, Yong-Jae Kim, Seung Eun Choi, Yunkyu Choi, Ji Hoon Kim, Junhyeok Kang, Ohchan Kwon, Kiwon Eum, Byungchan Han, Dae Woo Kim
Summary: The study achieved ultrafast H-2 permeance and enhanced hydrogen selectivity by growing a pore-tuned zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF)-8 layer directly on a graphene oxide nanoribbons (GONR)-treated polymer substrate.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Chao Xing, Chang-Yu Liu, Chao Lai, Shan-Qing Zhang
Summary: This study focused on tuning the interlayer spacing of a graphene oxide (GO) membrane using poly-ethyleneimine (PEI) and developing a robust composite nanofiltration membrane. The PEI/GO@PAN membrane exhibited excellent rejection performance and high flux, making it a promising candidate for dye/salt separation applications.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Long Tian, Nigel Graham, Ting Liu, Kening Sun, Wenzheng Yu
Summary: This paper describes the development and testing of a dual-site supported graphene oxide (GO) membrane, which introduces biuret and Mg2+ inside the interlayer structure to improve water flux and separation performance. The membrane exhibits a high selectivity towards dye molecules and improved stability compared to other types of cross-linked GO membranes.
JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yuxuan Lu, Tianyang Liu, Chung-Li Dong, Yu-Cheng Huang, Yafei Li, Jun Chen, Yuqin Zou, Shuangyin Wang
Summary: The adsorption behavior of HMF on Co3O4 has been studied, and the adsorption energy can be tuned by decorating with single-atom Ir, enhancing the overall conversion efficiency of HMF on electrocatalysts.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Wen-Dan Li, Xiang-Yu Zeng, Gang-Yu Lv, Zhen-Hui Liang, Qi-Jie Liu, Wan-Qi Fu, Jiu-An Zhang, Yan-Xian Feng, Hao-Yi Wu
Summary: Fluorescent graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles were synthesized via thermal carbonization of citrate acid, with the size of GO ranging from several to several hundred nanometers depending on the synthesizing temperature. The emission of green and blue light from the GO suspension could be dynamically quenched by Cu2+ ions, with the fluorescence intensity decreasing exponentially with Cu2+ concentration. The quenching mechanism was attributed to the bridging of -COOH and -OH groups on the GO surface by Cu2+, restricting vibration of edge atoms or clusters and reducing the number of luminophores. The concentration of Cu2+ could be detected by the fluorescent intensity of GO.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Shao-Nan Chen, Xu-Shan Liu, Rong-Hui Luo, En-Ze Xu, Jian-Guo Tian, Zhi-Bo Liu
Summary: This study demonstrates a large enhancement in the thermal conductivity of a van der Waals heterostructure composed of few-layer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO). By controlling the reduction temperature of RGO and changing the thickness of h-BN, the thermal conductivity of RGO is increased by nearly 18 times.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Seung Eun Lee, Kyoung-Yong Chun, Jongwoon Kim, Sunghwan Jo, Chang -Soo Han
Summary: The fabrication of advanced membranes with simultaneously high electron and proton conductivities has been achieved through the thermal reduction and vertical confinement of graphene oxide (GO) channels. The improvement in electron conductivity is due to the removal of oxygen functional groups, while the extremely reduced channel size allows for selective proton transport and improved proton selectivity.
JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Hira Ali, Llorenc Serra
Summary: We investigate the impact of a local potential shift induced by a side electrode on the properties of the edge modes of bilayer graphene at the boundary between gapped and ungapped regions. It is found that a potential shift near the gapped-ungapped boundary leads to the emergence of unprotected edge modes that propagate in both directions along the boundary. These counterpropagating edge modes allow for edge backscattering, in contrast to the valley-momentum-locked edge modes. Additionally, we analyze the conductance of a bilayer graphene wire in the presence of finger-gate electrodes and observe strong asymmetries, energy inversion, and deviations from conductance quantization, which can be explained by the gate-induced unprotected edge modes.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Balakrishnan S. Anju, Neeraja R. Nair, Subrata Kundu
Summary: This study demonstrates the importance of the interconversion between nitrite and nitric oxide in maintaining optimal NO flux in mammalian physiology. The research also reveals potential applications of copper-based catalysts in nitrite reduction and deepens our understanding of the involvement of red copper proteins in denitrification.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Jinglei Liu, Tianfei Chu, Mengmeng Cheng, Yan Su, Guizheng Zou, Shifeng Hou
Summary: An efficient chiral separation membrane was fabricated using bovine serum albumin (BSA) modified graphene oxide (GO) through EDC/NHS coupling chemistry. The BSA modified membrane successfully separated Phe racemate, achieving up to 96.1% excess enantiomer (ee) in the osmotic solution under optimal conditions. The addition of BSA not only increased the spacing in the membrane, but also created chiral channels for selective transport of L-Phe, resulting in high flux and selectivity. The microstructure of BSA was found to be crucial for the chiral separation performance of the membrane, as unfolding of its helical and globular three-dimensional structures weakened or eliminated the separation performance. Molecular docking simulation experiments supported this conclusion.
JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Yayuan Mo, Yue Zhang, Thierry Vincent, Catherine Faur, Eric Guibal
Summary: This study investigated the sorption of Hg(II) and Cu(II) in single and binary systems using alginate/polyethylenimine membranes. The results showed that separating Hg(II) from Cu(II) can be achieved by adjusting the pH value.
CARBOHYDRATE POLYMERS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Hyeon Han, Hua Zhou, Charles Guillemard, Manuel Valvidares, Arpit Sharma, Yan Li, Ankit K. Sharma, Ilya Kostanovskiy, Arthur Ernst, Stuart S. P. Parkin
Summary: This study uses the hydrogen spillover method to tailor the properties of SrRuO3 thin films by incorporating hydrogen. It is found that the magnetization and Curie temperature of the films are significantly reduced, and the structure evolves from an orthorhombic to a tetragonal phase with increasing hydrogen content. In situ crystal truncation rod measurements show that the structural phase transition is related to tilting of the RuO6 octahedral units. Density functional theory analysis demonstrates that the significant changes in magnetization result from shifts in the Fermi level. These findings provide new insights into the physical properties of SrRuO3 through the modulation of its lattice symmetry and emergent physical phenomena using the hydrogen spillover technique.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Weiwei Yang, Felipe Polo-Garzon, Hua Zhou, Zhennan Huang, Miaofang Chi, Harry Meyer III, Xinbin Yu, Yuanyuan Li, Zili Wu
Summary: In this study, different Pd single atom catalysts on ceria support were obtained by thermal pretreatment, leading to enhanced activity for methane oxidation. The enhanced activity is related to the oxygen-deficient local structure and elongated interacting distance with ceria.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Chen Wang, Jiang Zhong, Qizhu Dai, Yafei Qi, Qien Yu, Fengyuan Shi, Rongzhen Li, Xue Li, Bin Fang
Summary: This study proposes a novel Channel Correlation Distillation (CCD) method for semantic segmentation to address the issue of neglecting channel correlation knowledge transfer in prior methods. By minimizing the distance between the channel correlation maps of the student and teacher models, the student model is guided to mimic the teacher model. Additionally, multi-scale discriminators are introduced to sufficiently distinguish the multi-scale differences between the teacher and student segmentation outputs. Extensive experiments on popular datasets validate the superiority of CCD, consistently improving state-of-the-art methods for semantic segmentation.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PATTERN RECOGNITION AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xiaohan Wu, Da Lan, Chengjun Sun, Hua Zhou, Xiaojiang Yu, Ping Yang, Xiaoqian Yu, Chao Liu, Pingfan Chen, Jun Ding, Jingsheng Chen, Gan Moog Chow
Summary: This study reports a two-step magnetization reversal in PZT/LSMO superlattices, which is attributed to the combined effects of strain, ferroelectric polarization, and exchange. The results demonstrate enhanced magnetoelectric coupling in PZT/LSMO superlattices, which holds significant implications for the application of multiferroic-based devices.
JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Mingyu Hu, Yalan Zhang, Jue Gong, Hua Zhou, Xianzhen Huang, Mingzhen Liu, Yuanyuan Zhou, Shihe Yang
Summary: By employing a sequential surface treatment method, we have significantly improved the optoelectronic properties and stability of cesium tin-lead perovskites. This has resulted in a power conversion efficiency of 16.79% and a T90 stability of 958 h, surpassing previous reported performance parameters for inorganic Sn-Pb PSCs and reducing the performance gap between all-inorganic and hybrid organic-inorganic Sn-Pb PSCs with sub-1.4 eV bandgaps.
ACS ENERGY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Minghao Xie, Sishuang Tang, Zhao Li, Maoyu Wang, Zhaoyu Jin, Panpan Li, Xun Zhan, Hua Zhou, Guihua Yu
Summary: Harvesting recyclable ammonia (NH3) from the electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate (NO3RR) is a sustainable strategy to close the nitrogen cycle in an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly manner. In this study, a new intermetallic single-atom alloy (ISAA) In-Pd bimetallene is reported to boost neutral NO3RR with high efficiency and stability. By integrating the NO3RR catalyst into a Zn-NO3(-) flow battery, high power density and NH3 production efficiency are achieved.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Sreejith Nair, Zhifei Yang, Dooyong Lee, Silu Guo, Jerzy T. Sadowski, Spencer Johnson, Abdul Saboor, Yan Li, Hua Zhou, Ryan B. Comes, Wencan Jin, K. Andre Mkhoyan, Anderson Janotti, Bharat Jalan
Summary: A study shows that epitaxial strain can be used to enhance the metal oxidation chemistry and thin-film growth of metal oxide thin films. Platinum group metal oxides are promising materials for future electronics and spintronics. However, their synthesis as thin films is challenging due to low vapor pressures and oxidation potentials. Using Ir as an example, the researchers demonstrate how epitaxial strain can control its oxidation chemistry, enabling phase-pure Ir or IrO2 films. The study also reveals the generality of this principle by showing the effect of epitaxial strain on Ru oxidation.
NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Di Wang, Chenkun Zhou, Alexander S. Filatov, Wooje Cho, Francisco Lagunas, Mingzhan Wang, Suriyanarayanan Vaikuntanathan, Chong Liu, Robert F. Klie, Dmitri V. Talapin
Summary: Two-dimensional transition-metal carbides and nitrides (MXenes) are extensively studied materials with diverse applications in energy storage. We demonstrate a direct synthesis route for scalable and atom-economic production of MXenes, including previously unattainable compounds, by reactions of metals and metal halides with graphite, methane, or nitrogen. The directly synthesized MXenes exhibit excellent energy storage capacity for lithium-ion intercalation, and their growth can be controlled to form unique morphologies such as carpets and spherulites.
Review
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Xiang He
Summary: Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are highly porous materials with large surface areas and tunable chemical properties, playing a critical role in addressing challenges related to energy-water systems. In this contribution, the roles of MOFs in electrochemical-based water applications are highlighted, where MOF-based functional materials exhibit outstanding performances in detecting/removing pollutants, recovering resources, and harvesting energies from different water sources. Factors/properties such as electronic structures, nanoconfined effects, stability, conductivity, and atomic structures that affect the performances of MOF-based materials are also reviewed.
NANO-MICRO LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Qingteng Zhang, Gang Wan, Vitalii Starchenko, Guoxiang Hu, Eric M. Dufresne, Hua Zhou, Hyoungjeen Jeen, Irene Calvo Almazan, Yongqi Dong, Huajun Liu, Alec R. Sandy, George E. Sterbinsky, Ho Nyung Lee, P. Ganesh, Dillon D. Fong
Summary: The intermittent behavior of point defects in oxide heterostructures has been discovered using X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. The local fluctuations between ordered phases in strained SrCoOx with different stability of oxygen vacancies are found to be modulated by the interaction energy between oxygen ions/vacancies and epitaxial strain. This study reveals the influence of defect dynamics on material functionality and opens new avenues for engineering the dynamical response of functional materials in neuromorphic and electrochemical applications.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Qiang Gao, Zihao Yan, Weijie Zhang, Hemanth Somarajan Pillai, Bingqing Yao, Wenjie Zang, Yuanqi Liu, Xue Han, Bokki Min, Hua Zhou, Lu Ma, Bukuru Anaclet, Sen Zhang, Hongliang Xin, Qian He, Huiyuan Zhu
Summary: This study reports the synthesis of Pd-Cu nanocubes as a highly active and selective catalyst for the hydrogenation of acetylene to ethylene. The core/shell structure with high surface density of active Pd sites isolated by Cu in the B2 intermetallic matrix enhances the catalytic performance compared to pristine Pd and Cu catalysts.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Ying Meng, Fengyuan Shi, Lixin Tang, Defeng Sun
Summary: Reinforcement learning is a promising approach for learning and decision-making in dynamic environments. This article explores reducing the action space in reinforcement learning using supermodularity. By applying monotone comparative statics, a monotonicity cut is proposed to remove unpromising actions from the action space. Evaluation on benchmark datasets and comparison with popular baseline algorithms demonstrate the effectiveness of the monotonicity cut in improving the performance of reinforcement learning.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NEURAL NETWORKS AND LEARNING SYSTEMS
(2023)
Article
Physics, Applied
Ranjan Kumar Patel, Ramesh Naidu Jenjeti, Rajat Kumar, Nandana Bhattacharya, Siddharth Kumar, Shashank Kumar Ojha, Zhan Zhang, Hua Zhou, Ke Qu, Zhen Wang, Zhenzhong Yang, Christoph Klewe, Padraic Shafer, S. Sampath, Srimanta Middey
Summary: This study investigates the OER activity of (La0.2Pr0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Eu0.2)NiO3 single-crystalline thin films grown on NdGaO3 substrates as a function of film thickness in 0.1 M KOH electrolyte. The OER activity increases with the thickness of the film due to enhanced Ni d-O p covalency and reduced charge transfer energy. However, excessive leaching occurs in thicker films, and a film thickness of 75 unit cells is found to have optimal OER activity.
APPLIED PHYSICS REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Grayson Johnson, Moon Young Yang, Chang Liu, Hua Zhou, Xiaobing Zuo, Diane A. Dickie, Sihan Wang, Wenpei Gao, Bukuru Anaclet, Frederic A. Perras, Fuyan Ma, Chenjie Zeng, Da Wang, Sara Bals, Sheng Dai, Zhen Xu, Guoliang Liu, William A. Goddard III, Sen Zhang
Summary: A scalable and generalized approach to synthesizing superstructures assembled from atomically precise nanoclusters has been reported, with a detailed description of the self-assembly mechanism. The chemical tuning of surface ligands controls superstructure disassembly and reassembly, enabling the synthesis of multicomponent superstructures. This research is promising for the preparation of superstructures for use in electronics, plasmonics, magnetics, and catalysis.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yijun Qiao, Qiming He, Hsin-Hsiang Huang, Dean Mastropietro, Zhang Jiang, Hua Zhou, Yuhong Liu, Matthew V. Tirrell, Wei Chen
Summary: In this study, the response of polymer brushes to shear flow is explored using in situ X-ray reflectivity. The research investigates how poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) brushes stretch and change in different environments, providing valuable insights into the behaviours and mechanisms that govern these responses.
