Atomic-scale understanding of oxide growth and dissolution kinetics of Ni-Cr alloys.

Aqueous corrosion of metals is governed by formation and dissolution of a passivating, multi-component surface oxide. Unfortunately, a detailed atomistic description is challenging due to the compositional complexity and the need to consider multiple kinetic factors simultaneously. To this end, we combine experiments with a first-principles-derived, multiscale computational framework that transcends thermodynamic descriptions to explicitly simulate the kinetic evolution of surface oxides of Ni-Cr alloys as a function of composition, temperature, pH, and applied voltage.

Synthesis of Boron-Containing Nucleoside Analogs.

Over the last century, nucleoside-based therapeutics have demonstrated remarkable effectiveness in the treatment of a wide variety of diseases from cancer to HIV. In addition, boron-containing drugs have recently emerged as an exciting and fruitful avenue for medicinal therapies. However, borononucleosides have largely been unexplored in the context of medicinal applications.

Root Cause Analysis of Degradation in Protonic Ceramic Electrochemical Cell with Interfacial Electrical Sensors Using Data-Driven Machine Learning.

Protonic ceramic electrochemical cells (PCECs) offer promising paths for energy storage and conversion. Despite considerable achievements made, PCECs still face challenges such as physiochemical compatibility between componenets and suboptimal solid-solid contact at the interfaces between the electrolytes and electrodes. In this study, a novel approach is proposed that combines in situ electrochemical characterization of interfacial electrical sensor embedded PCECs and machine learning to quantify the contributions of different cell components to total degradation, as well as to predict the remaining useful life.

Mathematical Model-Assisted Ultrasonic Spray Coating for Scalable Production of Large-Sized Solid Oxide Electrochemical Cells.

Thin solid oxide films are crucial for developing high-performance solid oxide-based electrochemical devices aimed at decarbonizing the global energy system. Among various methods, ultrasonic spray coating (USC) can provide the throughput, scalability, quality consistency, roll-to-roll compatibility, and low material waste necessary for scalable production of large-sized solid oxide electrochemical cells. However, due to the large number of USC parameters, systematic parameter optimization is required to ensure optimal settings.

Life Cycle Assessment of Innovative Carbon Dioxide Selective Membranes from Low Carbon Emission Sources: A Comparative Study.

Carbon capture has been an important topic of the twenty-first century because of the elevating carbon dioxide (CO) levels in the atmosphere. CO in the atmosphere is above 420 parts per million (ppm) as of 2022, 70 ppm higher than 50 years ago. Carbon capture research and development has mostly been centered around higher concentration flue gas streams.

Versatile microbial communities rapidly assimilate ammonium hydroxide-treated plastic waste.

Waste plastic presently accumulates in landfills or the environment. While natural microbial metabolisms can degrade plastic polymers, biodegradation of plastic is very slow. This study demonstrates that chemical deconstruction of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with ammonium hydroxide can replace the rate limiting step (depolymerization) and by producing plastic-derived terephthalic acid and terephthalic acid monoamide.

Quantitatively controlled electrophoretic deposition of nanocrystal films from non-aqueous suspensions.

This study presents a novel method to correlate the mass and charge transfer kinetics during the electrophoretic deposition of nanocrystal films by using a purpose-built double quartz crystal microbalance combined with simultaneous current-measurement. Our data support a multistep process for film formation: generation of charged nanocrystal flux, charge transfer at the electrode, and polarization of neutral nanocrystals near the electrode surface. The polarized particles are then subject to dielectrophoretic forces that reduce diffusion away from the interface, generating a sufficiently high neutral particle concentration at the interface to form a film.

Solvent-driven fractional crystallization for atom-efficient separation of metal salts from permanent magnet leachates.

This work reports a dimethyl ether-driven fractional crystallization process for separating rare earth elements and transition metals. The process has been successfully applied in the treatment of rare earth element-bearing permanent magnet leachates as an atom-efficient, reagent-free separation method. Using ~5 bar pressure, the solvent was dissolved into the aqueous system to displace the contained metal salts as solid precipitates.

Calcium vapor synthesis of extremely coercive SmCo.

Exceptionally coercive SmCo particles are produced through calcium vapor reduction of SmCoO powders synthesized by flame spray pyrolysis. The resulting powders are composed of oblate hexagonal particles approximately 2 microns across with smooth surfaces. This microstructure yields record-breaking room temperature coercivity >80 kOe, or >60 kOe when combined with advanced manufacturing approaches such as electrophoretic deposition or molding with tetraglyme inks.

A Bioinspired Artificial Injury Response System Based on a Robust Polymer Memristor to Mimic a Sense of Pain, Sign of Injury, and Healing.

Flexible electronic skin with features that include sensing, processing, and responding to stimuli have transformed human-robot interactions. However, more advanced capabilities, such as human-like self-protection modalities with a sense of pain, sign of injury, and healing, are more challenging. Herein, a novel, flexible, and robust diffusive memristor based on a copolymer of chlorotrifluoroethylene and vinylidene fluoride (FK-800) as an artificial nociceptor (pain sensor) is reported.

How index selection, compression, and recording schedule impact the description of ecological soundscapes.

Acoustic indices derived from environmental soundscape recordings are being used to monitor ecosystem health and vocal animal biodiversity. Soundscape data can quickly become very expensive and difficult to manage, so data compression or temporal down-sampling are sometimes employed to reduce data storage and transmission costs. These parameters vary widely between experiments, with the consequences of this variation remaining mostly unknown.

Rapid In Situ Ligand-Exchange Process Used to Prepare 3D PbSe Nanocrystal Superlattice Infrared Photodetectors.

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals are important building blocks for low-cost, solution-processed electronic devices with tunable functionalities. Considerable progress is made in improving charge transport through nanocrystal films by exchanging long insulating ligands with shorter passivating ligands. To take full advantage of this strategy, it is equally important to fabricate close-packed structures that reduce the average interparticle spacing.

Total Synthesis and Bioactivity Studies of Fungal Metabolite (-)-TAN-2483B.

The first total synthesis of (-)-TAN-2483B, a fungal metabolite possessing a densely functionalized furo[3,4-]pyran-5-one framework, is achieved in 14 steps from d-mannose. Generation of the 2,6-pyran is by cyclopropane ring expansion followed by α-selective alkynylation. Julia-Kocienski olefination introduces the -propenyl side chain.

A tale of two seasons: The link between seasonal migration and climatic niches in passerine birds.

The question of whether migratory birds track a specific climatic niche by seasonal movements has important implications for understanding the evolution of migration, the factors affecting species' distributions, and the responses of migrants to climate change. Despite much research, previous studies of bird migration have produced mixed results. However, whether migrants track climate is only one half of the question, the other being why residents remain in the same geographic range year-round.

Suppression of low temperature magnetic ordering in samarium nanoparticles.

The role of finite size effects on magnetic order has been investigated in samarium nanoparticles prepared by physical vapor deposition. A dense layer composed of distinct nanoparticles with a mean particle diameter of 26 nm was deposited on a diamagnetic substrate. M(T) measurements identify the expected pair of antiferromagnetic ordering temperatures in the bulk Sm precursor, at 113 K and 14 K, where the magnetic unit cell for the lower ordering temperature is 10.

Nevoid melanoma and eruptive nevi from erlotinib.

Cutaneous side effects such as acneiform eruption, xerosis, and paronychia are frequently observed in patients undergoing treatment with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors for non-small cell lung cancer and other solid tumors. Interestingly, these side effects appear to positively correlate with length of remission, indicating that disruption of homeostatic EGFR signaling in the skin may serve as a marker of therapeutic EGFR inhibition in tumors. We report the case of a woman with metastatic lung cancer in remission being treated with the EGFR inhibitor, erlotinib, who experienced numerous commonly occurring adverse cutaneous reactions early in her treatment, and after two years of treatment developed eruptive nevi as well as a nevoid melanoma.

Solute displacement in the aqueous phase of water-NaCl-organic ternary mixtures relevant to solvent-driven water treatment.

Twelve water miscible organic solvents (MOS): acetone, tetrahydrofuran, isopropanol, acetonitrile, dimethyl sulfoxide, 1,4-dioxane, dimethylacetamide, -methyl-2-pyrrolidone, trifluoroethanol, isopropylamine, dimethylformamide, and dimethyl ether (DME) were used to produce ternary mixtures of water-NaCl-MOS relevant to MOS-driven fractional precipitation. The aqueous-phase composition of the ternary mixture at liquid-liquid equilibrium and liquid-solid endpoint was established through quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance and mass balance. The results highlight the importance of considering the hydrated concentrations of salts and suggest that at high salt concentrations and low MOS concentration, the salt concentration is governed by competition between the salt ions and MOS molecules.

Characterizing soundscapes across diverse ecosystems using a universal acoustic feature set.

Natural habitats are being impacted by human pressures at an alarming rate. Monitoring these ecosystem-level changes often requires labor-intensive surveys that are unable to detect rapid or unanticipated environmental changes. Here we have developed a generalizable, data-driven solution to this challenge using eco-acoustic data.

Cross-Linked Polyphosphazene Blends as Robust CO Separation Membranes.

An effective cross-linking technique allows a viscous and highly gas-permeable hydrophilic polyphosphazene to be cast as solid membrane films. By judicious blending with other polyphosphazenes to improve the mechanical properties, a membrane exhibiting the highest CO permeability (610 barrer) among polyphosphazenes combined with a good CO/N selectivity (35) was synthesized and described here. The material demonstrates performance stability after 500 h of exposure to a coal-fired power plant flue gas, making it attractive for use in carbon capture applications.

Self-sustainable protonic ceramic electrochemical cells using a triple conducting electrode for hydrogen and power production.

The protonic ceramic electrochemical cell (PCEC) is an emerging and attractive technology that converts energy between power and hydrogen using solid oxide proton conductors at intermediate temperatures. To achieve efficient electrochemical hydrogen and power production with stable operation, highly robust and durable electrodes are urgently desired to facilitate water oxidation and oxygen reduction reactions, which are the critical steps for both electrolysis and fuel cell operation, especially at reduced temperatures. In this study, a triple conducting oxide of PrNiCoO perovskite is developed as an oxygen electrode, presenting superior electrochemical performance at 400~600 °C.