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	Author	Khalilov, U.; Uljayev, U.; Mehmonov, K.; Nematollahi, P.; Yusupov, M.; Neyts, E.C.; Neyts, E.C.
	Title	Can endohedral transition metals enhance hydrogen storage in carbon nanotubes?			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2024	Publication	International journal of hydrogen energy	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	55	Issue		Pages	640-610
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Modelling and Simulation in Chemistry (MOSAIC); Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	The safe and efficient use of hydrogen energy, which is in high demand worldwide today, requires efficient hydrogen storage. Despite significant advances in hydrogen storage using carbon-based nanomaterials, including carbon nanotubes (CNTs), efforts to substantially increase the storage capacity remain less effective. In this work, we demonstrate the effect of endohedral transition metal atoms on the hydrogen storage capacity of CNTs using reactive molecular dynamics simulations. We find that an increase in the volume fraction of endohedral nickel atoms leads to an increase in the concentration of physisorbed hydrogen molecules around single-walled CNTs (SWNTs) by approximately 1.6 times compared to pure SWNTs. The obtained results provide insight into the underlying mechanisms of how endohedral transition metal atoms enhance the hydrogen storage ability of SWNTs under nearly ambient conditions.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	001142427400001	Publication Date	2023-11-24
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0360-3199	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access
	Notes				Approved	no
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:202315			Serial	9006
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Cassimon, J.; Kovács, A.; Neyts, E.; Cornet, I.; Billen, P.
	Title	Deacetylation of mannosylerythritol lipids in hydrophobic natural deep eutectic solvents			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	European journal of organic chemistry	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	27	Issue	5	Pages	e202300934-10
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Biochemical Wastewater Valorization & Engineering (BioWaVE); Intelligence in PRocesses, Advanced Catalysts and Solvents (iPRACS)
	Abstract	Mannosylerythritol lipids (MELs) are a promising group of biosurfactants due to their high fermentation yield, selfassembly and biological activity. During fermentation by Pseudozyma aphidis, a mixture of MELs with different levels of acylation is formed, of which the fully deacetylated form is the most valuable. In order to reduce the environmental impact of deacetylation, an enzymatic process using natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) has been developed. We tested the deacetylation of a purified MELs mixture with immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B enzyme and 2-ethylhexanol as co-substrate in 140 h reactions with different NADES. We identified hydrophobic NADES systems with similar yields and kinetics as in pure 2-ethylhexanol solvent. Our results indicate that deacetylation of MELs mixtures in NADES as a solvent is possible with yields comparable to pure co-substrate and that hydrophobic NADES without carboxylic acid compounds facilitate the reaction to the greatest extent.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos		Publication Date	2023-12-12
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1434-193x; 1099-0690	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access
	Notes				Approved	no
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:201382			Serial	9017
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Kovács, A.; Janssens, N.; Mielants, M.; Cornet, I.; Neyts, E.C.; Billen, P.
	Title	Biocatalyzed vinyl laurate transesterification in natural deep eutectic solvents			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Waste and biomass valorization	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume		Issue		Pages	1-12
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Biochemical Wastewater Valorization & Engineering (BioWaVE); Intelligence in PRocesses, Advanced Catalysts and Solvents (iPRACS)
	Abstract	Purpose Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) represent a green alternative to conventional organic solvents as reaction medium, offering more benign properties. To efficiently design NADES for biocatalysis, a better understanding of their effect on these reactions is needed. We hypothesize that this effect can be described by separately considering (1) the solvent interactions with the substrates, (2) the solvent viscosities and (3) the enzyme stability in NADES. Methods We investigated the effect of substrate solvation and viscosity on the reaction rate; and the stability of the enzyme in NADES. To this end, we monitored the conversion over time of the transesterification of vinyl laurate with 1- butanol by the lipase enzyme Candida antarctica B in NADES of different compounds and molar ratios. Results The initial reaction rate is higher in most NADES ( varying between 1.14 and 15.07 mu mol min(-1) mg(-1)) than in the reference n-hexane (4.0 mu mol min(-1) mg(-1))), but no clear relationship between viscosity and initial reaction rate was found. The increased reaction rate is most likely related to the solvation of the substrate due to a change in the activation energy of the reaction or a change in the conformation of the substrate. The enzyme retained part of its activity after the first 2 h of reaction (on average 20 % of the substrate reacted in the 2-24 h period). Enzyme incubation in ethylene glycol-based NADES resulted in a reduced reaction rate ( 15.07 vs. 3.34 mu mol min(-1) mg(-1)), but this may also be due to slow dissolution of the substrate. Conclusions The effect of viscosity seems to be marginal next to the effect of solvation and possible enzyme-NADES interaction. The enzyme retains some of its activity during the 24-hour measurements, but the enzyme incubation experiments did not yield accurate, comparable values. [GRAPHICS] .
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	001117290800003	Publication Date	2023-12-07
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1877-2641; 1877-265x	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access
	Notes				Approved	no
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:202709			Serial	9005
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Grubova, I.Y.; Surmenev, R.A.; Neyts, E.C.; Koptyug, A.V.; Volkova, A.P.; Surmeneva, M.A.
	Title	Combined first-principles and experimental study on the microstructure and mechanical characteristics of the multicomponent additive-manufactured Ti-35Nb-7Zr-5Ta alloy			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	ACS Omega	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	8	Issue	30	Pages	27519-27533
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	New & beta;-stabilizedTi-based alloys are highly promising forbone implants, thanks in part to their low elasticity. The natureof this elasticity, however, is as yet unknown. We here present combinedfirst-principles DFT calculations and experiments on the microstructure,structural stability, mechanical characteristics, and electronic structureto elucidate this origin. Our results suggest that the studied & beta;Ti-35Nb-7Zr-5Ta wt % (TNZT) alloy manufacturedby the electron-beam powder bed fusion (E-PBF) method has homogeneousmechanical properties (H = 2.01 & PLUSMN; 0.22 GPa and E = 69.48 & PLUSMN; 0.03 GPa) along the building direction,which is dictated by the crystallographic texture and microstructuremorphologies. The analysis of the structural and electronic properties,as the main factors dominating the chemical bonding mechanism, indicatesthat TNZT has a mixture of strong metallic and weak covalent bonding.Our calculations demonstrate that the softening in the Cauchy pressure(C & PRIME; = 98.00 GPa) and elastic constant C ̅ ( 44 ) = 23.84 GPa is the originof the low elasticity of TNZT. Moreover, the nature of this softeningphenomenon can be related to the weakness of the second and thirdneighbor bonds in comparison with the first neighbor bonds in theTNZT. Thus, the obtained results indicate that a carefully designedTNZT alloy can be an excellent candidate for the manufacturing oforthopedic internal fixation devices. In addition, the current findingscan be used as guidance not only for predicting the mechanical propertiesbut also the nature of elastic characteristics of the newly developedalloys with yet unknown properties.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	001031269000001	Publication Date	2023-07-18
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2470-1343	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access
	Notes				Approved	no
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:198313			Serial	9011
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	Author	Faraji, F.; Neek-Amal, M.; Neyts, E.C.; Peeters, F.M.
	Title	Cation-controlled permeation of charged polymers through nanocapillaries			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Physical review E	Abbreviated Journal	Phys Rev E
	Volume	107	Issue	3	Pages	034501-34510
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Condensed Matter Theory (CMT); Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study the effects of different cations on the permeation of charged polymers through flat capillaries with heights below 2 nm. Interestingly, we found that, despite being monovalent, Li+ , Na+ , and K+ cations have different effects on polymer permeation, which consequently affects their transmission speed throughout those capillaries. We attribute this phenomenon to the interplay of the cations' hydration free energies and the hydrodynamic drag in front of the polymer when it enters the capillary. Different alkali cations exhibit different surface versus bulk preferences in small clusters of water under the influence of an external electric field. This paper presents a tool to control the speed of charged polymers in confined spaces using cations.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000955986000006	Publication Date	2023-03-17
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2470-0053	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	2.4	Times cited		Open Access	Not_Open_Access
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 2.4; 2023 IF: 2.366
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:196089			Serial	7586
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	Author	Javdani, Z.; Hassani, N.; Faraji, F.; Zhou, R.; Sun, C.; Radha, B.; Neyts, E.; Peeters, F.M.; Neek-Amal, M.
	Title	Clogging and unclogging of hydrocarbon-contaminated nanochannels			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	The journal of physical chemistry letters	Abbreviated Journal	J Phys Chem Lett
	Volume	13	Issue	49	Pages	11454-11463
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Condensed Matter Theory (CMT); Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	The recent advantages of the fabrication of artificial nanochannels enabled new research on the molecular transport, permeance, and selectivity of various gases and molecules. However, the physisorption/chemisorption of the unwanted molecules (usually hydrocarbons) inside nanochannels results in the alteration of the functionality of the nanochannels. We investigated contamination due to hydrocarbon molecules, nanochannels made of graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, BC2N, and molybdenum disulfide using molecular dynamics simulations. We found that for a certain size of nanochannel (i.e., h = 0.7 nm), as a result of the anomalous hydrophilic nature of nanochannels made of graphene, the hydrocarbons are fully adsorbed in the nanochannel, giving rise to full uptake. An increasing temperature plays an important role in unclogging, while pressure does not have a significant role. The results of our pioneering work contribute to a better understanding and highlight the important factors in alleviating the contamination and unclogging of nanochannels, which are in good agreement with the results of recent experiments.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000893147700001	Publication Date	2022-12-05
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1948-7185	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor	5.7	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 5.7
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:192815			Serial	7263
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	Author	Bal, K.M.; Neyts, E.C.
	Title	Extending and validating bubble nucleation rate predictions in a Lennard-Jones fluid with enhanced sampling methods and transition state theory			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	Journal Of Chemical Physics	Abbreviated Journal	J Chem Phys
	Volume	157	Issue	18	Pages	184113-10
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	We calculate bubble nucleation rates in a Lennard-Jones fluid through explicit molecular dynamics simulations. Our approach-based on a recent free energy method (dubbed reweighted Jarzynski sampling), transition state theory, and a simple recrossing correction-allows us to probe a fairly wide range of rates in several superheated and cavitation regimes in a consistent manner. Rate predictions from this approach bridge disparate independent literature studies on the same model system. As such, we find that rate predictions based on classical nucleation theory, direct brute force molecular dynamics simulations, and seeding are consistent with our approach and one another. Published rates derived from forward flux sampling simulations are, however, found to be outliers. This study serves two purposes: First, we validate the reliability of common modeling techniques and extrapolation approaches on a paradigmatic problem in materials science and chemical physics. Second, we further test our highly generic recipe for rate calculations, and establish its applicability to nucleation processes.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000885260600002	Publication Date	2022-11-14
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0021-9606	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	4.4	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 4.4
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:192076			Serial	7266
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	Author	Kovács, A.; Yusupov, M.; Cornet, I.; Billen, P.; Neyts, E.C.
	Title	Effect of natural deep eutectic solvents of non-eutectic compositions on enzyme stability			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	Journal Of Molecular Liquids	Abbreviated Journal	J Mol Liq
	Volume	366	Issue		Pages	120180-17
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Biochemical Wastewater Valorization & Engineering (BioWaVE); Intelligence in PRocesses, Advanced Catalysts and Solvents (iPRACS)
	Abstract	Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) represent a green alternative to common organic solvents in the biochemical industry due to their benign behavior and tailorable properties, in particular as media for enzymatic reactions. However, to fully exploit their potential in enzymatic reactions, there is a need for a more fundamental understanding of how these neoteric solvents influence the course of these reac-tions. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the influence of NADES with various molar composi-tions on the stability and structure of enzymes, applying molecular dynamics simulations. This can help to better understand the effect of individual compounds of NADES, in addition to eutectic mixtures. More specifically, we simulate the behavior of Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) enzyme in NADES com-posed of choline chloride with either urea, ethylene glycol or glycerol. Hereto, we monitor the NADES microstructure, the general stability of the enzyme and changes in the structure of its active sites and sur-face residues. Our simulations show that none of the studied NADES systems significantly disrupt the microstructure of the solvent or the stability of the CALB enzyme within the time scales of the simula-tions. The enzyme preserves its initial structure, size and intra-chain hydrogen bonds in all investigated compositions and, for the first time reported, also in NADES with increased hydrogen bond donating com-pound ratios. As the main novelty, our results indicate that, in addition to the composition, the molar ratio can be an additional variable to fine-tune the physicochemical properties of NADES without altering the enzyme characteristics. These findings could facilitate the development and application of task -tailored NADES media for biocatalytic processes. (c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000865431800010	Publication Date	2022-08-25
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0167-7322	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor	6	Times cited		Open Access	Not_Open_Access
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 6
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:191538			Serial	7265
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Nematollahi, P.; Neyts, E.C.
	Title	Identification of a unique pyridinic FeN₄C_x electrocatalyst for N₂ reduction : tailoring the coordination and carbon topologies			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	Journal Of Physical Chemistry C	Abbreviated Journal	J Phys Chem C
	Volume	126	Issue	34	Pages	14460-14469
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	Although the heterogeneity of pyrolyzed Fe???N???C materials is known and has been reported previously, the atomic structure of the active sites and their detailed reaction mechanisms are still unknown. Here, we identified two pyridinic Fe???N4-like centers with different local C coordinates, i.e., FeN4C8 and FeN4C10, and studied their electrocatalytic activity for the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We also discovered the influence of the adsorption of NH2 as a functional ligand on catalyst performance on the NRR. We confirmed that the NRR selectivity of the studied catalysts is essentially governed either by the local C coordination or by the dynamic structure associated with the FeII/FeIII. Our investigations indicate that the proposed traditional pyridinic FeN4C10 has higher catalytic activity and selectivity for the NRR than the robust FeN4C8 catalyst, while it may have outstanding activity for promoting other (electro)catalytic reactions. <comment>Superscript/Subscript Available</comment
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000859545200001	Publication Date	2022-08-17
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1932-7447; 1932-7455	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor	3.7	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 3.7
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:191469			Serial	7268
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	Author	Gogoi, A.; Neyts, E.C.; Milošević, M.V.; Peeters, F.M.
	Title	Arresting aqueous swelling of layered graphene-oxide membranes with H₃O⁺ and OH^- ions			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	ACS applied materials and interfaces	Abbreviated Journal	Acs Appl Mater Inter
	Volume	14	Issue	30	Pages	34946-34954
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Condensed Matter Theory (CMT); Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	Over the past decade, graphene oxide (GO) has emerged as a promising membrane material with superior separation performance and intriguing mechanical/chemical stability. However, its practical implementation remains very challenging primarily because of its undesirable swelling in an aqueous environment. Here, we demonstrated that dissociation of water molecules into H3O+ and OH- ions inside the interlayer gallery of a layered GO membrane can strongly affect its stability and performance. We reveal that H3O+ and OH- ions form clusters inside the GO laminates that impede the permeance of water and salt ions through the membrane. Dynamics of those clusters is sensitive to an external ac electric field, which can be used to tailor the membrane performance. The presence of H3O+ and OH- ions also leads to increased stability of the hydrogen bond (H-bond) network among the water molecules and the GO layers, which further reduces water permeance through the membrane, while crucially imparting stability to the layered GO membrane against undesirable swelling. KEYWORDS: layered graphene-oxide membrane, aqueous stability, H3O+ and OH- ions, external electric field, molecular dynamics
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000835946500001	Publication Date	2022-07-25
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1944-8244	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	9.5	Times cited	1	Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 9.5
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:189467			Serial	7127
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	Author	Nematollahi, P.; Barbiellini, B.; Bansil, A.; Lamoen, D.; Qingying, J.; Mukerjee, S.; Neyts, E.C.
	Title	Identification of a Robust and Durable FeN₄C_xCatalyst for ORR in PEM Fuel Cells and the Role of the Fifth Ligand			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	ACS catalysis	Abbreviated Journal	Acs Catal
	Volume		Issue		Pages	7541-7549
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	Although recent studies have advanced the understanding of pyrolyzed Fe−N−C materials as oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts, the atomic and electronic structures of the active sites and their detailed reaction mechanisms still remain unknown. Here, based on first-principles density functional theory (DFT) computations, we discuss the electronic structures of three FeN4 catalytic centers with different local topologies of the surrounding C atoms with a focus on unraveling the mechanism of their ORR activity in acidic electrolytes. Our study brings back a forgotten, synthesized pyridinic Fe−N coordinate to the community’s attention, demonstrating that this catalyst can exhibit excellent activity for promoting direct four-electron ORR through the addition of a fifth ligand such as −NH2, −OH, and −SO4. We also identify sites with good stability properties through the combined use of our DFT calculations and Mössbauer spectroscopy data.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000823193100001	Publication Date	2022-06-10
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2155-5435	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	12.9	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes	Basic Energy Sciences, DE-FG02-07ER46352 ; Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, 1261721N ; Opetus- ja Kulttuuriministeri?; Department of Energy, DE-EE0008416 ;			Approved	Most recent IF: 12.9
	Call Number	EMAT @ emat @c:irua:189000			Serial	7073
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	Author	Nematollahi, P.; Neyts, E.C.
	Title	Distribution pattern of metal atoms in bimetal-doped pyridinic-N₄ pores determines their potential for electrocatalytic N₂ reduction			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	Journal Of Physical Chemistry A	Abbreviated Journal	J Phys Chem A
	Volume	126	Issue	20	Pages	3080-3089
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	Doping two single transition-metal (TM) atoms on a substrate host opens numerous possibilities for catalyst design. However, what if the substrate contains more than one vacancy site? Then, the combination of two TMs along with their distribution patterns becomes a design parameter potentially complementary to the substrate itself and the bimetal composition. In this study, we investigate ammonia synthesis under mild electrocatalytic conditions on a transition-metal-doped porous C24N24 catalyst using density functional theory (DFT). The TMs studied include Ti, Mn, and Cu in a 2:4 dopant ratio (Ti2Mn4@C24N24 and Ti2Cu4@N-24(24)). Our computations show that a single Ti atom in both catalysts exhibits the highest selectivity for N-2 fixation at ambient conditions. This work is a good theoretical model to establish the structure-activity relationship, and the knowledge earned from the metal-N-4 moieties may help studies of related nanomaterials, especially those with curved structures.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000804119800003	Publication Date	2022-05-12
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1089-5639; 1520-5215	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor	2.9	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 2.9
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:189023			Serial	7146
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	Author	Faraji, F.; Neek-Amal, M.; Neyts, E.C.; Peeters, F.M.
	Title	Indentation of graphene nano-bubbles			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	Nanoscale	Abbreviated Journal	Nanoscale
	Volume	14	Issue	15	Pages	5876-5883
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Condensed Matter Theory (CMT); Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	Molecular dynamics simulations are used to investigate the effect of an AFM tip when indenting graphene nano bubbles filled by a noble gas (i.e. He, Ne and Ar) up to the breaking point. The failure points resemble those of viral shells as described by the Foppl-von Karman (FvK) dimensionless number defined in the context of elasticity theory of thin shells. At room temperature, He gas inside the bubbles is found to be in the liquid state while Ne and Ar atoms are in the solid state although the pressure inside the nano bubble is below the melting pressure of the bulk. The trapped gases are under higher hydrostatic pressure at low temperatures than at room temperature.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000776763000001	Publication Date	2022-03-30
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2040-3364; 2040-3372	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	6.7	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 6.7
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:187924			Serial	7171
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	Author	Bogaerts, A.; Neyts, E.C.; Guaitella, O.; Murphy, A.B.
	Title	Foundations of plasma catalysis for environmental applications			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	Plasma Sources Science & Technology	Abbreviated Journal	Plasma Sources Sci T
	Volume		Issue		Pages
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	Plasma catalysis is gaining increasing interest for various applications, but the underlying mechanisms are still far from understood. Hence, more fundamental research is needed to understand these mechanisms. This can be obtained by both modelling and experiments. This foundations paper describes the fundamental insights in plasma catalysis, as well as efforts to gain more insights by modelling and experiments. Furthermore, it discusses the state-of-the-art of the major plasma catalysis applications, as well as successes and challenges of technology transfer of these applications.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000804396200001	Publication Date	2022-03-21
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0963-0252	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	3.8	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes	H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, 823745 ; H2020 European Research Council, 810182 ; We acknowldege financial support from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme (Grant Agreement No. 810182 – SCOPE ERC Synergy project) and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 813393 (PIONEER).			Approved	Most recent IF: 3.8
	Call Number	PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:188539			Serial	7070
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	Author	Cui, Z.; Meng, S.; Yi, Y.; Jafarzadeh, A.; Li, S.; Neyts, E.C.; Hao, Y.; Li, L.; Zhang, X.; Wang, X.; Bogaerts, A.
	Title	Plasma-catalytic methanol synthesis from CO₂ hydrogenation over a supported Cu cluster catalyst : insights into the reaction mechanism			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	Acs Catalysis	Abbreviated Journal	Acs Catal
	Volume	12	Issue	2	Pages	1326-1337
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	Plasma-catalytic CO, hydrogenation for methanol production is gaining increasing interest, but our understanding of its reaction mechanism remains primitive. We present a combined experimental/computational study on plasma-catalytic CO, hydrogenation to CH3OH over a size-selected Cu/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst. Our experiments demonstrate a synergistic effect between the Cu/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst and the CO2/H-2 plasma, achieving a CO2 conversion of 10% at 4 wt % Cu loading and a CH3OH selectivity near 50% further rising to 65% with H2O addition (for a H2O/CO2 ratio of 1). Furthermore, the energy consumption for CH3OH production was more than 20 times lower than with plasma only. We carried out density functional theory calculations over a Cu-13/gamma-Al2O3 model, which reveal that the interfacial sites of the Cu-13 cluster and gamma-Al2O3 support show a bifunctional effect: they not only activate the CO2 molecules but also strongly adsorb key intermediates to promote their hydrogenation further. Reactive plasma species can regulate the catalyst surface reactions via the Eley-Rideal (E-R) mechanism, which accelerates the hydrogenation process and promotes the generation of the key intermediates. H2O can promote the CH3OH desorption by competitive adsorption over the Cu-13/gamma-Al2O3 surface. This study provides new insights into CO2 hydrogenation through plasma catalysis, and it provides inspiration for the conversion of some other small molecules (CH4, N-2, CO, etc.) by plasma catalysis using supported-metal clusters.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000742735600001	Publication Date	2022-01-07
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2155-5435	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	12.9	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 12.9
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:186416			Serial	7192
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	Author	Engelmann, Y.; van ’t Veer, K.; Gorbanev, Y.; Neyts, E.C.; Schneider, W.F.; Bogaerts, A.
	Title	Plasma Catalysis for Ammonia Synthesis: A Microkinetic Modeling Study on the Contributions of Eley–Rideal Reactions			Type	A1 Journal Article;Plasma catalysis
	Year	2021	Publication	Acs Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering	Abbreviated Journal	Acs Sustain Chem Eng
	Volume	9	Issue	39	Pages	13151-13163
	Keywords	A1 Journal Article;Plasma catalysis; Eley−Rideal reactions; Volcano plots; Vibrational excitation; Radical reactions; Dielectric barrier discharge; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;
	Abstract	Plasma catalysis is an emerging new technology for the electriﬁcation and downscaling of NH3 synthesis. Increasing attention is being paid to the optimization of plasma catalysis with respect to the plasma conditions, the catalyst material, and their mutual interaction. In this work we use microkinetic models to study how the total conversion process is impacted by the combination of diﬀerent plasma conditions and transition metal catalysts. We study how plasma-generated radicals and vibrationally excited N2 (present in a dielectric barrier discharge plasma) interact with the catalyst and impact the NH3 turnover frequencies (TOFs). Both ﬁlamentary and uniform plasmas are studied, based on plasma chemistry models that provided plasma phase speciation and vibrational distribution functions. The Langmuir−Hinshelwood reaction rate coeﬃcients (i.e., adsorption reactions and subsequent reactions among adsorbates) are determined using conventional scaling relations. An additional set of Eley−Rideal reactions (i.e., direct reactions of plasma radicals with adsorbates) was added and a sensitivity analysis on the assumed reaction rate coeﬃcients was performed. We ﬁrst show the impact of diﬀerent vibrational distribution functions on the catalytic dissociation of N2 and subsequent production of NH3, and we gradually include more radical reactions, to illustrate the contribution of these species and their corresponding reaction pathways. Analysis over a large range of catalysts indicates that diﬀerent transition metals (metals such as Rh, Ni, Pt, and Pd) optimize the NH3TOFs depending on the population of the vibrational levels of N2. At higher concentrations of plasma-generated radicals, the NH3 TOFs become less dependent on the catalyst material, due to radical adsorptions on the more noble catalysts and Eley−Rideal reactions on the less noble catalysts.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000705367800004	Publication Date	2021-10-04
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2168-0485	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	5.951	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes	Basic Energy Sciences, DE-SC0021107 ; Vlaamse regering, HBC.2019.0108 ; H2020 European Research Council, 810182 ; Methusalem project – University of Antwerp; Excellence of science FWO-FNRS, GoF9618n ; TOP-BOF – University of Antwerp; DOCPRO3 – University of Antwerp; We acknowledge the ﬁnancial support from the DOC-PRO3, the TOP-BOF, and the Methusalem project of the University of Antwerp, as well as from the European Research Council (ERC) (grant agreement No, 810182−SCOPE ERC Synergy project), under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, the Flemish Government through the Moonshot cSBO project P2C (HBC.2019.0108), and the Excellence of Science FWO-FNRS project (FWO grant ID GoF9618n, EOS ID 30505023). Calculations were carried out using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (Department EWI), 13162			Approved	Most recent IF: 5.951
	Call Number	PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:182482			Serial	6811
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	Author	Bal, K.M.; Neyts, E.C.
	Title	Quantifying the impact of vibrational nonequilibrium in plasma catalysis: insights from a molecular dynamics model of dissociative chemisorption			Type	A1 Journal Article;plasma catalysis
	Year	2021	Publication	Journal Of Physics D-Applied Physics	Abbreviated Journal	J Phys D Appl Phys
	Volume	54	Issue	39	Pages	394004
	Keywords	A1 Journal Article;plasma catalysis; vibrational nonequilibrium; dissociative chemisorption; free energy barriers; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;
	Abstract	The rate, selectivity and efficiency of plasma-based conversion processes is strongly affected by nonequilibrium phenomena. High concentrations of vibrationally excited molecules are such a plasma-induced effect. It is frequently assumed that vibrationally excited molecules are important in plasma catalysis because their presence lowers the apparent activation energy of dissociative chemisorption reactions and thus increases the conversion rate. A detailed atomic-level understanding of vibrationally stimulated catalytic reactions in the context of plasma catalysis is however lacking. Here, we couple a recently developed statistical model of a plasma-induced vibrational nonequilibrium to molecular dynamics simulations, enhanced sampling methods, and machine learning techniques. We quantify the impact of a vibrational nonequilibrium on the dissociative chemisorption barrier of H2 and CH4 on nickel catalysts over a wide range of vibrational temperatures. We investigate the effect of surface structure and compare the role of different vibrational modes of methane in the dissociation process. For low vibrational temperatures, very high vibrational efficacies are found, and energy in bend vibrations appears to dominate the dissociation of methane. The relative impact of vibrational nonequilibrium is much higher on terrace sites than on surface steps. We then show how our simulations can help to interpret recent experimental results, and suggest new paths to a better understanding of plasma catalysis.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000674464100001	Publication Date	2021-09-30
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0022-3727	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	2.588	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes	Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, 12ZI420N ; K M B was funded as a junior postdoctoral fellow of the FWO (Research Foundation—Flanders), Grant 12ZI420N. The computational resources and services used in this work were provided by the HPC core facility CalcUA of the Universiteit Antwerpen, and VSC (Flemish Supercomputer Center), funded by the FWO and the Flemish Government. HLDA calculations were performed with a script provided by G Piccini.			Approved	Most recent IF: 2.588
	Call Number	PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:179830			Serial	6808
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	Author	Villarreal, R.; Lin, P.-C.; Faraji, F.; Hassani, N.; Bana, H.; Zarkua, Z.; Nair, M.N.; Tsai, H.-C.; Auge, M.; Junge, F.; Hofsaess, H.C.; De Gendt, S.; De Feyter, S.; Brems, S.; Ahlgren, E.H.; Neyts, E.C.; Covaci, L.; Peeters, F.M.; Neek-Amal, M.; Pereira, L.M.C.
	Title	Breakdown of universal scaling for nanometer-sized bubbles in graphene			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2021	Publication	Nano Letters	Abbreviated Journal	Nano Lett
	Volume	21	Issue	19	Pages	8103-8110
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Condensed Matter Theory (CMT); Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	We report the formation of nanobubbles on graphene with a radius of the order of 1 nm, using ultralow energy implantation of noble gas ions (He, Ne, Ar) into graphene grown on a Pt(111) surface. We show that the universal scaling of the aspect ratio, which has previously been established for larger bubbles, breaks down when the bubble radius approaches 1 nm, resulting in much larger aspect ratios. Moreover, we observe that the bubble stability and aspect ratio depend on the substrate onto which the graphene is grown (bubbles are stable for Pt but not for Cu) and trapped element. We interpret these dependencies in terms of the atomic compressibility of the noble gas as well as of the adhesion energies between graphene, the substrate, and trapped atoms.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000709549100026	Publication Date	2021-09-14
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1530-6984	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	12.712	Times cited	12	Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 12.712
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:184137			Serial	6857
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	Author	Chernozem, R., V; Romanyuk, K.N.; Grubova, I.; Chernozem, P., V.; Surmeneva, M.A.; Mukhortova, Y.R.; Wilhelm, M.; Ludwig, T.; Mathur, S.; Kholkin, A.L.; Neyts, E.; Parakhonskiy, B.; Skirtach, A.G.; Surmenev, R.A.
	Title	Enhanced piezoresponse and surface electric potential of hybrid biodegradable polyhydroxybutyrate scaffolds functionalized with reduced graphene oxide for tissue engineering			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2021	Publication	Nano Energy	Abbreviated Journal	Nano Energy
	Volume	89	Issue	B	Pages	106473
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	Piezoelectricity is considered to be one of the key functionalities in biomaterials to boost bone tissue regeneration, however, integrating biocompatibility, biodegradability and 3D structure with pronounced piezoresponse remains a material challenge. Herein, novel hybrid biocompatible 3D scaffolds based on biodegradable poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) flakes have been developed. Nanoscale insights revealed a more homogenous distribution and superior surface potential values of PHB fibers (33 +/- 29 mV) with increasing rGO content up to 1.0 wt% (314 +/- 31 mV). The maximum effective piezoresponse was detected at 0.7 wt% rGO content, demonstrating 2.5 and 1.7 times higher out-of-plane and in-plane values, respectively, than that for pure PHB fibers. The rGO addition led to enhanced zigzag chain formation between paired lamellae in PHB fibers. In contrast, a further increase in rGO content reduced the alpha-crystal size and prevented zigzag chain conformation. A corresponding model explaining structural and molecular changes caused by rGO addition in electrospun PHB fibers is proposed. In addition, finite element analysis revealed a negligible vertical piezoresponse compared to lateral piezoresponse in uniaxially oriented PHB fibers based on alpha-phase (P2(1)2(1)2(1) space group). Thus, the present study demonstrates promising results for the development of biodegradable hybrid 3D scaffolds with an enhanced piezoresponse for various tissue engineering applications.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000703592700002	Publication Date	2021-08-31
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2211-2855	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	12.343	Times cited		Open Access	Not_Open_Access
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 12.343
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:182579			Serial	7914
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	Author	Nematollahi, P.; Ma, H.; Schneider, W.F.; Neyts, E.C.
	Title	DFT and microkinetic comparison of ru-doped porphyrin-like graphene and nanotubes toward catalytic formic acid decomposition and formation			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2021	Publication	Journal Of Physical Chemistry C	Abbreviated Journal	J Phys Chem C
	Volume	125	Issue	34	Pages	18673-18683
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	Immobilization of single metal atoms on a solid host opens numerous possibilities for catalyst designs. If that host is a two-dimensional sheet, sheet curvature becomes a design parameter potentially complementary to host and metal composition. Here, we use a combination of density functional theory calculations and microkinetic modeling to compare the mechanisms and kinetics of formic acid decomposition and formation, chosen for their relevance as a potential hydrogen storage medium, over single Ru atoms anchored to pyridinic nitrogen in a planar graphene flake (RuN4-G) and curved carbon nanotube (RuN4-CNT). Activation barriers are lowered and the predicted turnover frequencies are increased over RuN4-CNT relative to RuN4-CNT. The results highlight the potential of curvature control as a means to achieve high performance and robust catalysts.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000693413400013	Publication Date	2021-08-22
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1932-7447; 1932-7455	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	4.536	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 4.536
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:181538			Serial	7805
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	Author	Nematollahi, P.; Neyts, E.C.
	Title	Linking bi-metal distribution patterns in porous carbon nitride fullerene to its catalytic activity toward gas adsorption			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2021	Publication	Nanomaterials	Abbreviated Journal	Nanomaterials-Basel
	Volume	11	Issue	7	Pages	1794
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	Immobilization of two single transition metal (TM) atoms on a substrate host opens numerous possibilities for catalyst design. If the substrate contains more than one vacancy site, the combination of TMs along with their distribution patterns becomes a design parameter potentially complementary to the substrate itself and the bi-metal composition. By means of DFT calculations, we modeled three dissimilar bi-metal atoms (Ti, Mn, and Cu) doped into the six porphyrin-like cavities of porous C24N24 fullerene, considering different bi-metal distribution patterns for each binary complex, viz. TixCuz@C24N24, TixMny@C24N24, and MnyCuz@C24N24 (with x, y, z = 0-6). We elucidate whether controlling the distribution of bi-metal atoms into the C24N24 cavities can alter their catalytic activity toward CO2, NO2, H-2, and N-2 gas capture. Interestingly, Ti2Mn4@C24N24 and Ti2Cu4@C24N24 complexes showed the highest activity and selectively toward gas capture. Our findings provide useful information for further design of novel few-atom carbon-nitride-based catalysts.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000676140500001	Publication Date	2021-07-09
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2079-4991	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	3.553	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 3.553
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:180372			Serial	8174
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	Author	Van de Sompel, P.; Khalilov, U.; Neyts, E.C.
	Title	Contrasting H-etching to OH-etching in plasma-assisted nucleation of carbon nanotubes			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2021	Publication	Journal Of Physical Chemistry C	Abbreviated Journal	J Phys Chem C
	Volume	125	Issue	14	Pages	7849-7855
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	To gain full control over the growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), a thorough understanding of the underlying plasma-catalyst mechanisms is required. Oxygen-containing species are often used as or added to the growth precursor gas, but these species also yield various radicals and ions, which may simultaneously etch the CNT during the growth. At present, the effect of these reactive species on the growth onset has not yet been thoroughly investigated. We here report on the etching mechanism of incipient CNT structures from OH and O radicals as derived from combined (reactive) molecular dynamics (MD) and force-bias Monte Carlo (tfMC) simulations. Our results indicate that the oxygen-containing radicals initiate a dissociation process. In particular, we show how the oxygen species weaken the interaction between the CNT and the nanocluster. As a result of this weakened interaction, the CNT closes off and dissociates from the cluster in the form of a fullerene. Beyond the specific systems studied in this work, these results are generically important in the context of PECVD-based growth of CNTs using oxygen-containing precursors.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000641307100032	Publication Date	2021-04-06
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1932-7447; 1932-7455	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor	4.536	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 4.536
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:178393			Serial	7729
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	Author	Berdiyorov, G.R.; Khalilov, U.; Hamoudi, H.; Neyts, E.C.
	Title	Effect of chemical modification on electronic transport properties of carbyne			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2021	Publication	Journal Of Computational Electronics	Abbreviated Journal	J Comput Electron
	Volume		Issue		Pages
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	Using density functional theory in combination with the Green’s functional formalism, we study the effect of surface functionalization on the electronic transport properties of 1D carbon allotrope—carbyne. We found that both hydrogenation and fluorination result in structural changes and semiconducting to metallic transition. Consequently, the current in the functionalization systems increases significantly due to strong delocalization of electronic states along the carbon chain. We also study the electronic transport in partially hydrogenated carbyne and interface structures consisting of pristine and functionalized carbyne. In the latter case, current rectification is obtained in the system with rectification ratio up to 50%. These findings can be useful for developing carbyne-based structures with tunable electronic transport properties.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000617664900001	Publication Date	2021-02-13
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1569-8025	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	1.526	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes	Computational resources were provided by the research computing facilities of Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute. Calculations are also conducted using the Turing HPC infrastructure of the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Centre VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the University of Antwerp. U. Khalilov gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Fund of Scientific Research Flanders (FWO), Belgium, Grant number 12M1315N.			Approved	Most recent IF: 1.526
	Call Number	PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:176169			Serial	6708
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	Author	Yi, Y.; Wang, X.; Jafarzadeh, A.; Wang, L.; Liu, P.; He, B.; Yan, J.; Zhang, R.; Zhang, H.; Liu, X.; Guo, H.; Neyts, E.C.; Bogaerts, A.
	Title	Plasma-Catalytic Ammonia Reforming of Methane over Cu-Based Catalysts for the Production of HCN and H₂at Reduced Temperature			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2021	Publication	Acs Catalysis	Abbreviated Journal	Acs Catal
	Volume	11	Issue	3	Pages	1765-1773
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	Industrial production of HCN from NH3 and CH4 not only uses precious Pt or Pt−Rh catalysts but also requires extremely high temperatures (∼1600 K). From an energetic, operational, and safety perspective, a drastic decrease in temperature is highly desirable. Here, we report ammonia reforming of methane for the production of HCN and H2 at 673 K by the combination of CH4/NH3 plasma and a supported Cu/silicalite-1 catalyst. 30% CH4 conversion has been achieved with 79% HCN selectivity. Catalyst characterization and plasma diagnostics reveal that the excellent reaction performance is attributed to metallic Cu active sites. In addition, we propose a possible reaction pathway, viz. E-R reactions with N, NH, NH2, and CH radicals produced in the plasma, for the production of HCN, based on density functional theory calculations. Importantly, the Cu/silicalite-1 catalyst costs less than 5% of the commercial Pt mesh catalyst.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000618540300057	Publication Date	2021-02-05
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2155-5435	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	10.614	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes	Universiteit Antwerpen, 32249 ; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, 2015M580220 2016T90217 ; PetroChina Innovation Foundation, 2018D-5007-0501 ; National Natural Science Foundation of China, 21503032 ; We acknowledge ﬁnancial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [21503032], the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [grant numbers 2015M580220 and 2016T90217, 2016], the PetroChina Innovation Foundation [2018D-5007-0501], and the TOP research project of the Research Fund of the University of Antwerp [grant ID 32249].			Approved	Most recent IF: 10.614
	Call Number	PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:175880			Serial	6675
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	Author	Marinov, D.; de Marneffe, J.-F.; Smets, Q.; Arutchelvan, G.; Bal, K.M.; Voronina, E.; Rakhimova, T.; Mankelevich, Y.; El Kazzi, S.; Nalin Mehta, A.; Wyndaele, P.-J.; Heyne, M.H.; Zhang, J.; With, P.C.; Banerjee, S.; Neyts, E.C.; Asselberghs, I.; Lin, D.; De Gendt, S.
	Title	Reactive plasma cleaning and restoration of transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2021	Publication	npj 2D Materials and Applications	Abbreviated Journal	npj 2D Mater Appl
	Volume	5	Issue	1	Pages	17
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	The cleaning of two-dimensional (2D) materials is an essential step in the fabrication of future devices, leveraging their unique physical, optical, and chemical properties. Part of these emerging 2D materials are transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). So far there is limited understanding of the cleaning of “monolayer” TMD materials. In this study, we report on the use of downstream H<sub>2</sub>plasma to clean the surface of monolayer WS<sub>2</sub>grown by MOCVD. We demonstrate that high-temperature processing is essential, allowing to maximize the removal rate of polymers and to mitigate damage caused to the WS<sub>2</sub>in the form of sulfur vacancies. We show that low temperature in situ carbonyl sulfide (OCS) soak is an efficient way to resulfurize the material, besides high-temperature H<sub>2</sub>S annealing. The cleaning processes and mechanisms elucidated in this work are tested on back-gated field-effect transistors, confirming that transport properties of WS<sub>2</sub>devices can be maintained by the combination of H<sub>2</sub>plasma cleaning and OCS restoration. The low-damage plasma cleaning based on H<sub>2</sub>and OCS is very reproducible, fast (completed in a few minutes) and uses a 300 mm industrial plasma etch system qualified for standard semiconductor pilot production. This process is, therefore, expected to enable the industrial scale-up of 2D-based devices, co-integrated with silicon technology.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000613258900001	Publication Date	2021-01-28
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2397-7132	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes	Daniil Marinov has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 752164. Ekaterina Voronina, Yuri Mankelevitch, and Tatyana Rakhimova are thankful to the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) for financial support (Grant No. 16-12-10361). This study was carried out using the equipment of the shared research facilities of high-performance computing resources at Lomonosov Moscow State University and the computational resources and services of the HPC core facility CalcUA of the University of Antwerp, and VSC (Flemish Supercomputer Center), funded by the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO) and the Flemish Government. Patrick With gratefully acknowledges imec’s CTO office for financial support during his stay at imec. The authors thank Mr. Surajit Sutar (imec) for his help during sample electrical characterization, and Patrick Verdonck for lab processing. Jean-François de Marneffe thank Prof. Simone Napolitano from the Free University of Brussels for useful discussions on irreversibly adsorbed polymer layers, and Cédric Huyghebaert (imec) for his continuous support in the framework of the Graphene FET Flagship core project. All authors acknowledge the support of imec’s pilot line and materials characterization and analysis (MCA) group, namely Jonathan Ludwig, Stefanie Sergeant, Thomas Nuytten, Olivier Richard, and Thierry Conard. Finally, Daniil Marinov thank Mikhail Krishtab (imec/KU Leuven) for his help in selecting the optimal plasma etch system for this work. Part of this project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 649953.			Approved	Most recent IF: NA
	Call Number	PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:175871			Serial	6671
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	Author	Izadi, M.E.; Bal, K.M.; Maghari, A.; Neyts, E.C.
	Title	Reaction mechanisms of C(³P_J) and C⁺(²P_J) with benzene in the interstellar medium from quantum mechanical molecular dynamics simulations			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2021	Publication	Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics	Abbreviated Journal	Phys Chem Chem Phys
	Volume	23	Issue	7	Pages	4205-4216
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	While spectroscopic data on small hydrocarbons in interstellar media in combination with crossed molecular beam (CMB) experiments have provided a wealth of information on astrochemically relevant species, much of the underlying mechanistic pathways of their formation remain elusive. Therefore, in this work, the chemical reaction mechanisms of C(<sup>3</sup>P<sub>J</sub>) + C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>6</sub>and C<sup>+</sup>(<sup>2</sup>P) + C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>6</sub>systems using the quantum mechanical molecular dynamics (QMMD) technique at the PBE0-D3(BJ) level of theory is investigated, mimicking a CMB experiment. Both the dynamics of the reactions as well as the electronic structure for the purpose of the reaction network are evaluated. The method is validated for the first reaction by comparison to the available experimental data. The reaction scheme for the C(<sup>3</sup>P<sub>J</sub>) + C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>6</sub>system covers the literature data,<italic>e.g.</italic>the major products are the 1,2-didehydrocycloheptatrienyl radical (C<sub>7</sub>H<sub>5</sub>) and benzocyclopropenyl radical (C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>5</sub>–CH), and it reveals the existence of less common pathways for the first time. The chemistry of the C<sup>+</sup>(<sup>2</sup>P<sub>J</sub>) + C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>6</sub>system is found to be much richer, and we have found that this is because of more exothermic reactions in this system in comparison to those in the C(<sup>3</sup>P<sub>J</sub>) + C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>6</sub>system. Moreover, using the QMMD simulation, a number of reaction paths have been revealed that produce three distinct classes of reaction products with different ring sizes. All in all, at all the collision energies and orientations, the major product is the heptagon molecular ion for the ionic system. It is also revealed that the collision orientation has a dominant effect on the reaction products in both systems, while the collision energy mostly affects the charged system. These simulations both prove the applicability of this approach to simulate crossed molecular beams, and provide fundamental information on reactions relevant for the interstellar medium.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000621595300016	Publication Date	2021-01-18
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1463-9076	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	4.123	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes	Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, 12ZI420N ; Ministry of Science Research and Technology; Universiteit Antwerpen; The financial support from the Iran Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and PLASMANT Research Group University of Antwerp is highly acknowledged by the authors. K.M.B. was funded as a junior postdoctoral fellow of the FWO (Research Foundation – Flanders), Grant 12ZI420N. The computational resources and services used in this work were provided by the HPC core facility CalcUA of the Universiteit Antwerpen, and VSC (Flemish Supercomputer Center), funded by the FWO and the Flemish Government.			Approved	Most recent IF: 4.123
	Call Number	PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:176672			Serial	6742
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	Author	Fukuhara, S.; Bal, K.M.; Neyts, E.C.; Shibuta, Y.
	Title	Entropic and enthalpic factors determining the thermodynamics and kinetics of carbon segregation from transition metal nanoparticles			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2021	Publication	Carbon	Abbreviated Journal	Carbon
	Volume	171	Issue		Pages	806-813
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	The free energy surface (FES) for carbon segregation from nickel nanoparticles is obtained from advanced molecular dynamics simulations. A suitable reaction coordinate is developed that can distinguish dissolved carbon atoms from segregated dimers, chains and junctions on the nanoparticle surface. Because of the typically long segregation time scale (up to ms), metadynamics simulations along the developed reaction coordinate are used to construct FES over a wide range of temperatures and carbon concentrations. The FES revealed the relative stability of different stages in the segregation process, and free energy barriers and rates of the individual steps could then be calculated and decomposed into enthalpic and entropic contributions. As the carbon concentration in the nickel nanoparticle increases, segregated carbon becomes more stable in terms of both enthalpy and entropy. The activation free energy of the reaction also decreases with the increase of carbon concentration, which can be mainly attributed to entropic effects. These insights and the methodology developed to obtain them improve our understanding of carbon segregation process across materials science in general, and the nucleation and growth of carbon nanotube in particular.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000598371500084	Publication Date	2020-09-25
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0008-6223	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	6.337	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes	Scientific Research, 19H02415 ; JSPS, 18J22727 ; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; JSPS; JSPS; FWO; Research Foundation; Flanders, 12ZI420N ; This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientiﬁc Research (B) (No.19H02415) and Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Research Fellow (No.18J22727) from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Japan. S.F. was supported by JSPS through the Program for 812			Approved	Most recent IF: 6.337
	Call Number	PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:172452			Serial	6421
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	Author	Khalilov, U.; Neyts, E.C.
	Title	Mechanisms of selective nanocarbon synthesis inside carbon nanotubes			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2021	Publication	Carbon	Abbreviated Journal	Carbon
	Volume	171	Issue		Pages	72-78
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	The possibility of conﬁnement effects inside a carbon nanotube provides new application opportunities, e.g., growth of novel carbon nanostructures. However, the understanding the precise role of catalystfeedstock in the nanostructure synthesis is still elusive. In our simulation-based study, we investigate the Ni-catalyzed growth mechanism of encapsulated carbon nanostructures, viz. double-wall carbon nanotube and graphene nanoribbon, from carbon and hydrocarbon growth precursors, respectively. Speciﬁcally, we ﬁnd that the tube and ribbon growth is determined by a catalyst-vs-feedstock competition effect. We compare our results, i.e., growth mechanism and structure morphology with all available theoretical and experimental data. Our calculations show that all encapsulated nanostructures contain metal (catalyst) atoms and such structures are less stable than their pure counterparts. Therefore, we study the puriﬁcation mechanism of these structures. In general, this study opens a possible route to the controllable synthesis of tubular and planar carbon nanostructures for today’s nanotechnology.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000598371500009	Publication Date	2020-09-02
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0008-6223	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor	6.337	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes	Fund of Scientific Research Flanders, 12M1318N ; Universiteit Antwerpen; Flemish Supercomputer Centre; Hercules Foundation; Flemish Government; The authors gratefully acknowledge the ﬁnancial support from the Fund of Scientiﬁc Research Flanders (FWO), Belgium, Grant number 12M1318N. The work was carried out in part using the Turing HPC infrastructure of the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UA), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Centre (VSC), funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UA, Belgium.			Approved	Most recent IF: 6.337
	Call Number	PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:172459			Serial	6414
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	Author	Grubova, I.Y.; Surmeneva, M.A.; Surmenev, R.A.; Neyts, E.C.
	Title	Effect of van der Waals interactions on the adhesion strength at the interface of the hydroxyapatite-titanium biocomposite : a first-principles study			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2020	Publication	RSC advances	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	10	Issue	62	Pages	37800-37805
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	Hydroxyapatite (HAP) is frequently used as biocompatible coating on Ti-based implants. In this context, the HAP-Ti adhesion is of crucial importance. Here, we report ab initio calculations to investigate the influence of Si incorporation into the amorphous calcium-phosphate (a-HAP) structure on the interfacial bonding mechanism between the a-HAP coating and an amorphous titanium dioxide (a-TiO2) substrate, contrasting two different density functionals: PBE-GGA, and DFT-D3, which are capable of describing the influence of the van der Waals (vdW) interactions. In particular, we discuss the effect of dispersion on the work of adhesion (W-ad), equilibrium geometries, and charge density difference (CDD). We find that replacement of P by Si in a-HAP (a-Si-HAP) with the creation of OH vacancies as charge compensation results in a significant increase in the bond strength between the coating and substrate in the case of using the PBE-GGA functional. However, including the vdW interactions shows that these forces considerably contribute to the W-ad. We show that the difference (W-ad – W-ad(vdW)) is on average more than 1.1 J m(-2) and 0.5 J m(-2) for a-HAP/a-TiO2 and a-Si-HAP/a-TiO2, respectively. These results reveal that including vdW interactions is essential for accurately describing the chemical bonding at the a-HAP/a-TiO2 interface.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000583523300025	Publication Date	2020-10-14
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN		ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access
	Notes	; The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Russian president's grant MK-330.2020.8 and BOF Fellowships for International Joint PhD students funded by University of Antwerp (UAntwerp, project number 32545). The work was carried out at Tomsk Polytechnic University within the framework of Tomsk Polytechnic University Competitiveness Enhancement Program grant and in part using the Turing HPC infrastructure of the CalcUA core facility of the UAntwerp, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Centre (VSC), funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UAntwerp, Belgium. ;			Approved	Most recent IF: NA
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:173603			Serial	6499
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	Author	Surmenev, R.A.; Grubova, I.Y.; Neyts, E.; Teresov, A.D.; Koval, N.N.; Epple, M.; Tyurin, A.I.; Pichugin, V.F.; Chaikina, M.V.; Surmeneva, M.A.
	Title	Ab initio calculations and a scratch test study of RF-magnetron sputter deposited hydroxyapatite and silicon-containing hydroxyapatite coatings			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2020	Publication	Surfaces and interfaces	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	21	Issue		Pages
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
	Abstract	A crucial property for implants is their biocompatibility. To ensure biocompatibility, thin coatings of hydroxyapatite (HA) are deposited on the actual implant. In this study, we investigate the effects of the addition of silicate anions to the structure of hydroxyapatite coatings on their adhesion strength via a scratch test and ab initio calculations. We find that both the grain size and adhesion strength decrease with the increase in the silicon content in the HA coating (SiHA). The increase in the silicon content to 1.2 % in the HA coating leads to a decrease in the average crystallite size from 28 to 21 nm, and in the case of 4.6 %, it leads to the formation of an amorphous or nanocrystalline film. The decreases in the grain and crystallite sizes lead to peeling and destruction of the coating from the titanium substrate at lower loads. Further, our ab initio simulations demonstrate an increased number of molecular bonds at the amorphous SiHA-TiO2 interface. However, the experimental results revealed that the structure and grain size have more pronounced effects on the adhesion strength of the coatings. In conclusion, based on the results of the ab initio simulations and the experimental results, we suggest that the presence of Si in the form of silicate ions in the HA coating has a significant impact on the structure, grain size, and number of molecular bonds at the interface and on the adhesion strength of the SiHA coating to the titanium substrate.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000697616300009	Publication Date	2020-10-02
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2468-0230	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	6.2	Times cited		Open Access
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 6.2; 2020 IF: NA
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:181685			Serial	7400
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