Reduction of Backward Scatterings at the Low-Coherence Kunwu Laser Facility.

We report the first experimental observation on the reduction of backward scatterings by an instantaneous broadband laser with 0.6% bandwidth in conditions of interest for inertial confinement fusion at the low-coherence Kunwu laser facility. The backscatter of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) was robustly reduced by half at intensities of 1-5×10^{14}  W/cm^{2} with the 0.

The generation of a fourth-harmonic probe and its application in Nomarski interferometry at Shengguang-II.

In this work, a design for the generation of a 4ω (263-nm) probe converted from a 1ω (1053-nm) laser is presented. The design is based on a beta-barium borate and potassium dihydrogen phosphate two-step frequency-conversion process. A suitable configuration for Nomarski interferometry based on the 4ω probe is proposed, for measuring the electron density of laser-produced plasmas.

Self-assembled -oriented Ni(OH) films for enhanced electrocatalytic activity towards the urea oxidation reaction.

This study investigates the electrocatalytic properties of the transparent -oriented Ni(OH) films self-assembled from colloidal 2D Ni(OH) nanosheets for urea oxidation. The synthesis process yields highly uniform close-packed superlattices with a dominant -axis orientation. The self-assembled -oriented Ni(OH) films exhibit advantageous electrocatalytic performance in urea oxidation, presenting significantly lower overpotentials and higher current densities compared to randomly distributed Ni(OH) particles.

Pt-Based Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalysts in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells: Controllable Preparation and Structural Design of Catalytic Layer.

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have attracted extensive attention because of their high efficiency, environmental friendliness, and lack of noise pollution. However, PEMFCs still face many difficulties in practical application, such as insufficient power density, high cost, and poor durability. The main reason for these difficulties is the slow oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on the cathode due to the insufficient stability and catalytic activity of the catalyst.

Bi-Functional Composting the Sulfonic Acid Based Proton Exchange Membrane for High Temperature Fuel Cell Application.

Although sulfonic acid (SA)-based proton-exchange membranes (PEMs) dominate fuel cell applications at low temperature, while sulfonation on polymers would strongly decay the mechanical stability limit the applicable at elevated temperatures due to the strong dependence of proton conduction of SA on water. For the purpose of bifunctionally improving mechanical property and high-temperature performance, Nafion membrane, which is a commercial SA-based PEM, is composited with fabricated silica nanofibers with a three-dimensional network structure via electrospinning by considering the excellent water retention capacity of silica. The proton conductivity of the silica nanofiber-Nafion composite membrane at 110 °C is therefore almost doubled compared with that of a pristine Nafion membrane, while the mechanical stability of the composite Nafion membrane is enhanced by 44%.

Targeted filling of silica in Nafion by a modified in situ sol-gel method for enhanced fuel cell performance at elevated temperatures and low humidity.

Herein, a modified in situ sol-gel method was applied to prepare the Nafion/silica composite membrane with targeted filling of silica into ionic clusters. The low humidity (20-60% RH) proton conductivity of Nafion was therefore doubled at elevated temperatures (110-120 °C), and the high-temperature fuel cell performance was significantly improved by 45%.

Design and Optimization of a Hyper-Branched Polyimide Proton Exchange Membrane with Ultra-High Methanol-Permeation Resistivity for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells Applications.

A hyper-branched sulfonated polyimide (-PI) was synthesized successfully and composited with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) to achieve ultra-high methanol-permeation resistive for direct methanol fuel cell application. The optimized -PI-PVDF composite membrane exhibited methanol resistivity low to 1.80 × 10 cm²/s, two orders of magnitude lower than the value of the commercial Nafion 117 membrane (60 × 10 cm²/s).

Proton Conductive Channel Optimization in Methanol Resistive Hybrid Hyperbranched Polyamide Proton Exchange Membrane.

Based on a previously developed polyamide proton conductive macromolecule, the nano-scale structure of the self-assembled proton conductive channels (PCCs) is adjusted via enlarging the nano-scale pore size within the macromolecules. Hyperbranched polyamide macromolecules with different size are synthesized from different monomers to tune the nano-scale pore size within the macromolecules, and a series of hybrid membranes are prepared from these two micromoles to optimize the PCC structure in the proton exchange membrane. The optimized membrane exhibits methanol permeability low to 2.

Nanoparticles for gene delivery: a brief patent review.

Gene therapy, as therapeutic treatment to genetic or acquired diseases, is attracting much interest in the research community, leading to noteworthy developments over the past two decades. Nonviral vectors have recently received an increasing attention in order to overcome the safety problems of viral counterpart. Nanoparticles with their special characteristics such as small particle size, large surface area and the capability of changing their surface properties have numerous advantages compared with other gene delivery systems.