Red Carbon Mediated Formation of CuO Clusters Dispersed on the Oxocarbon Framework by Fehling's Route and their Use for the Nitrate Electroreduction in Acidic Conditions.

The oligomers of carbon suboxide, known as red carbon, exhibit a highly conjugated structure and semiconducting properties. Upon mild heat treatment, it transforms into a carbonaceous framework rich in oxygen surface terminations, called oxocarbon. In this study, the abundant oxygen functionalities are harnessed as anchors to create oxocarbon-supported nanohybrid electrocatalysts.

Au (III) cross-linked hollow organosilica capsules from 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane.

Hollow organosilica capsules have received extensive interest due to their application potentials in catalyst, sensor, drug delivery etc. In this work, we demonstrate a novel strategy to fabricate hollow organosilica capsules based on coordination interaction, by using 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) as precursor and Au (III) as cross-linker. In this approach, stable APTES droplets are first formed in water with the presence of Au (III) due to the coordination effect between Au (III) and the amino groups of APTES located on the surface of the droplets.

Direct observation of highly effective hydrogen isotope separation at active metal sites by DRIFT spectroscopy.

diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy was developed for the first time to observe the hydrogen isotope separation behavior at active Cu sites within Cu-MFU-4, and clear evidence of the preferential adsorption of D over H was directly captured. More importantly, our results show direct spectral proof to clarify the chemical affinity quantum sieving mechanism of hydrogen isotope separation within porous adsorbents.

Au Nanoflowers for Catalyzing and In Situ Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Monitoring of the Dimerization of -Aminothiophenol.

In this work, we demonstrated a facile approach for fabrication of Au nanoflowers (Au NFs) using an amino-containing organosilane, 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES), as a shape-directing agent. In this approach, the morphology of the Au particles evolved from sphere-like to flower-like with increasing the concentration of APTES, accompanied by a red shift in the localized surface plasmon resonance peak from 520 to 685 nm. It was identified that the addition of APTES is profitable to direct the preferential growth of the (111) plane of face-centered cubic gold and promote the formation of anisotropic Au NFs.

Platinum Single Atoms Supported on Nanoarray-Structured Nitrogen-Doped Graphite Foil with Enhanced Catalytic Performance for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.

Platinum-based single-atom catalysts (SACs) are among the most promising candidates for the practical applications of electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), but their catalytic efficiency remains to be further enhanced. Herein, a well-designed nanoarray-structured nitrogen-doped graphite foil (NNGF) substrate is introduced to support Pt SACs in Pt-N construction (Pt/NNGF) for HER. Within NNGF, the constructed nanoarray-structured surficial layer for supporting Pt SACs could enhance the exposure of active sites to the electrolyte and improve the reaction and diffusion kinetics; meanwhile, the retained graphite structures in bulk NNGF provide not only the required electrical conductivity but also the mechanical stability and flexibility.

One-Step Synthesis of NiFe Layered Double Hydroxide Nanosheet Array/N-Doped Graphite Foam Electrodes for Oxygen Evolution Reactions.

Developing cost-effective and highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts is vital for the production of clean hydrogen by electrocatalytic water splitting. Here, three dimensional nickel-iron layered double hydroxide (NiFe LDH) nanosheet arrays are in-situ fabricated on self-supporting nitrogen doped graphited foam (NGF) via a one-step hydrothermal process under an optimized amount of urea. The as prepared NiFe LDH/NGF electrode exhibits a remarkable activity toward OER with a low onset overpotential of 233 mV and a Tafel slope of 59.

Radiochemical reaction of DT/ T and CO under high pressure.

For both fuel cycle design and safety evolution of tritium (T) in fusion reactor, it is important to study irradiation-induced reactions between T and various molecular species produced from nuclear-fusion fuel cleanup systems. The radiochemical reactions between deuterium-tritium/tritium and carbon monoxide of different concentrations under 1.0 MPa were elucidated in this work.

Structural and Kinetic Hydrogen Sorption Properties of ZrTiCo Alloy Prepared by Ball Milling.

The effects of ball milling on the hydrogen sorption kinetics and microstructure of ZrTiCo have been systematically studied. Kinetic measurements show that the hydrogenation rate and amount of ZrTiCo decrease with increasing the ball milling time. However, the dehydrogenation rate accelerates as the ball milling time increases.