Keys to Unravel the Stability/Durability Issues of Platinum-Group-Metal Catalysts toward Oxygen Evolution Reaction for Acidic Water Splitting.

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolyzers stand as one of the foremost promising avenues for acidic water splitting and green hydrogen production, yet this electrolyzer encounters significant challenges. The primary culprit lies in not only the requirements of substantial platinum-group-metal (PGM)-based electrocatalysts (e.g.

Hydrogen Bond and Dipole-Dipole Interaction Enabling Ultrastable, Quick Responding, and Self-Healing Proton Exchange Membranes for Fuel Cells.

Proton exchange membranes (PEMs) are subject to mechanical degradation, such as microcracks and pinhole formation, under real-world fuel cell operating conditions, which leads to great issues in terms of device death and safety concerns. Therefore, PEMs with self-healing features are imperative but have rarely been used for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Here, a dimensionally stable and self-healing PEM is developed by tuning the hydrogen bond and dipole-dipole interactions between the mature perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) and a self-healing copolymer, which is specifically synthesized with hexafluorobutyl acrylate (HFBA) and acrylic acid (AA).

Decoupling the Synergy Between PGM and PGM-Free Moieties toward Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

Recently, coupling the conventional low Pt-group-metal (low-PGM, LP) and emerging PGM-free (PF) moiety to form a composite LP/PF catalyst is proposed to be an advanced strategy to improve the intrinsic activity and stability of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts. Milestones in terms of ORR mass activity are created by this type of catalyst. However, the specific synergy between LP and PF moieties has not been well elucidated.

Flexible and Freestanding Supercapacitor Electrodes Based on Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Networks/Graphene/Bacterial Cellulose with Ultrahigh Areal Capacitance.

Flexible energy-storage devices based on supercapacitors rely largely on the scrupulous design of flexible electrodes with both good electrochemical performance and high mechanical properties. Here, nitrogen-doped carbon nanofiber networks/reduced graphene oxide/bacterial cellulose (N-CNFs/RGO/BC) freestanding paper is first designed as a high-performance, mechanically tough, and bendable electrode for a supercapacitor. The BC is exploited as both a supporting substrate for a large mass loading of 8 mg cm and a biomass precursor for N-CNFs by pyrolysis.

[Research on Oil Sands Spectral Characteristics and Oil Content by Remote Sensing Estimation].

Visible and near infrared spectroscopy is a proven technology to be widely used in identification and exploration of hydrocarbon energy sources with high spectral resolution for detail diagnostic absorption characteristics of hydrocarbon groups. The most prominent regions for hydrocarbon absorption bands are 1,740-1,780, 2,300-2,340 and 2,340-2,360 nm by the reflectance of oil sands samples. These spectral ranges are dominated by various C-H overlapping overtones and combination bands.

Highly chemoselective Pd-C catalytic hydrodechlorination leading to the highly efficient N-debenzylation of benzylamines.

In the presence of 1,1,2-trichloroethane, a novel procedure for the Pd-C catalytic N-debenzylation of benzylamines was established. The method proceeded in a synergistic catalytic system and directly gave the products as crystal amine hydrochlorides in practically quantitative yields.

A novel TGS-like inorganic-organic hybrid and a preliminary investigation of its possible ferroelectric behavior.

The homochiral inorganic-organic hybrid compound (H(3)NHPA)(SnCl(3))(2)(H(2)O)(3) [1, (S)-4-(4'-aminophenyl)-2-aminobutanoic acid diammonium trichloride stannite triaqua] has a TGS (triglycine sulfate)-like structure. Preliminary investigation suggests a possible ferroelectric behavior with a saturation spontaneous polarization (P(s)) of ca. 3.