Abstract: Ammonia is one of the most produced chemicals, mainly synthesized from fossil fuels for fertilizer applications. Furthermore, ammonia may be one of the energy carriers of the future, when it is produced from renewable electricity. This has spurred research on alternative technologies for green ammonia production. Research on plasma-driven ammonia synthesis has recently gained traction in academic literature. In the current review, we summarize the literature on plasma-driven ammonia synthesis. We distinguish between mechanisms for ammonia synthesis in the presence of a plasma, with and without a catalyst, for different plasma conditions. Strategies for catalyst design are discussed, as well as the current understanding regarding the potential plasma-catalyst synergies as function of the plasma conditions and their implications on energy efficiency. Finally, we discuss the limitations in currently reported models and experiments, as an outlook for research opportunities for further unravelling the complexities of plasma-catalytic ammonia synthesis, in order to bridge the gap between the currently reported models and experimental results.

Abstract: Earth-abundant and eco-friendly manganese oxides are promising platforms for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in water electrolysis. Herein, a versatile and potentially scalable route to gold-decorated manganese oxide-based OER electrocatalysts is reported. In particular, MnxOy(MnO2, Mn2O3) host matrices are grown on conductive glasses by plasma assisted-chemical vapor deposition (PA-CVD), and subsequently functionalized with gold nanoparticles (guest) as OER activators by radio frequency (RF)-sputtering. The final selective obtainment of MnO2- or Mn2O3-based systems is then enabled by annealing under oxidizing or inert atmosphere, respectively. A detailed material characterization evidences the formation of high-purity Mn(x)O(y)dendritic nanostructures with an open morphology and an efficient guest dispersion into the host matrices. The tailoring of Mn(x)O(y)phase composition and host-guest interactions has a remarkable influence on OER activity yielding, for the best performing Au/Mn(2)O(3)system, a current density of approximate to 5 mA cm(-2)at 1.65 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and an overpotential close to 300 mV at 1 mA cm(-2). Such results, comparing favorably with literature data on manganese oxide-based materials, highlight the importance of compositional control, as well as of surface and interface engineering, to develop low-cost and efficient anode nanocatalysts for water splitting applications.

Abstract: Quantum phase slips represent a coherent mechanism to couple flux states of a superconducting loop. Since their first direct observation, there have been substantial developments in building charge-insensitive quantum phase-slip circuits. At the heart of these devices is a weak link, often a nanowire, interrupting a superconducting loop. Owing to the very small cross-sectional area of such a nanowire, quantum phase slip rates in the gigahertz range can be achieved. Instead, here we present the use of a bias voltage across a superconducting loop to electrostatically induce a weak link, thereby amplifying the rate of quantum phase slips without physically interrupting the loop. Our simulations reveal that the bias voltage modulates the free energy barrier between subsequent flux states in a very controllable fashion, providing a route towards a phase-slip flux qubit with a broadly tunable transition frequency.

Abstract: Many natural shapes exhibit surprising symmetry and can be described by the Gielis equation, which has several classical geometric equations (for example, the circle, ellipse and superellipse) as special cases. However, the original Gielis equation cannot reflect some diverse shapes due to limitations of its power-law hypothesis. In the present study, we propose a generalized version by introducing a link function. Thus, the original Gielis equation can be deemed to be a special case of the generalized Gielis equation (GGE) with a power-law link function. The link function can be based on the morphological features of different objects so that the GGE is more flexible in fitting the data of the shape than its original version. The GGE is shown to be valid in depicting the shapes of some starfish and plant leaves.

Abstract: The interfacial co-existence of oxygen and metal vacancies in metal oxide semiconductors and their highly efficient carrier transport have rarely been reported. This work reports on the co-existence of oxygen and titanium vacancies at the interface between TiO2 and rGO via a simple two-step calcination treatment. Experimental measurements show that the oxygen and titanium vacancies are formed under 550 degrees C/Ar and 350 degrees C/air calcination conditions, respectively. These oxygen and titanium vacancies significantly enhance the transport of interfacial carriers, and thus greatly improve the photocurrent performances, the apparent quantum yield, and photocatalysis such as photocatalytic H-2 production from water-splitting, photocatalytic CO2 reduction and photo-electrochemical anticorrosion of metals. A new “interfacial co-existence of oxygen and titanium vacancies” phenomenon, and its characteristics and mechanism are proposed at the atomic-/nanoscale to clarify the generation of oxygen and titanium vacancies as well as the interfacial carrier transport.

Abstract: The degradation of cadmium sulfide (CdS)-based oil paints is a phenomenon potentially threatening the iconic painting The Scream (ca. 1910) by Edvard Munch (Munch Museum, Oslo) that is still poorly understood. Here, we provide evidence for the presence of cadmium sulfate and sulfites as alteration products of the original CdS-based paint and explore the external circumstances and internal factors causing this transformation. Macroscale in situ noninvasive spectroscopy studies of the painting in combination with synchrotron-radiation x-ray microspectroscopy investigations of a microsample and artificially aged mock-ups show that moisture and mobile chlorine compounds are key factors for promoting the oxidation of CdS, while light (photodegradation) plays a less important role. Furthermore, under exposure to humidity, parallel/secondary reactions involving dissolution, migration through the paint, and recrystallization of water-soluble phases of the paint are associated with the formation of cadmium sulfates.

Abstract: In this paper, the electronic, optical, and photocatalytic properties of GaSe/HfS2 heterostructure are studied via first-principles calculations. The stability of the vertically stacked heterobilayers is validated by the binding energy, phonon spectrum, and ab initio molecular dynamics simulation. The results reveal that the most stable GaSe/HfS2 heterobilayer retains a type-II alignment with an indirect bandgap 1.40 eV. As well, the results also show strong optical absorption intensity in the studied heterostructure (1.8 x 10(5) cm(-1)). The calculated hole mobility is 1376 cm(2) V-1 s(-1), while electron mobility reaches 911 cm(2) V-1 s(-1) along the armchair and zigzag directions. By applying an external electric field, the bandgap and band offset of the designed heterostructure can be effectively modified. Remarkably, a stronger external electric field can create nearly free electron states in the vicinity of the bottom of the conduction band, which induces indirect-to-direct bandgap transition as well as a semiconductor-to-metal transition. In contrast, the electronic properties of GaSe/HfS2 heterostructure are predicted to be insensitive to biaxial strain. The current work reveals that GaSe/HfS2 heterostructure is a promising candidate as a novel photocatalytic material for hydrogen generation in the visible range.

Abstract: This work investigates the compatibility of Zr2AlC MAX phase-based ceramics with liquid LBE, and proposes a mechanism to explain the observed local Zr2AlC/LBE interaction. The ceramics were exposed to oxygen-poor (C-O <= 2.2 x 10(-10) mass%), static liquid LBE at 500 degrees C for 1000 h. A new Zr-2(Al,Bi,Pb)C MAX phase solid solution formed in-situ in the LBE-affected Zr2AlC grains. Out-of-plane ordering was favorable in the new solid solution, whereby A-layers with high and low-Bi/Pb contents alternated in the crystal structure, in agreement with first-principles calculations. Bulk Zr-2(Al,Bi,Pb)C was synthesized by reactive hot pressing to study the crystal structure of the solid solution by neutron diffraction.

Abstract: Implementation of mainstream partial nitritation/anammox (PN/A) can lead to more sustainable and cost-effective sewage treatment. For mainstream PN/A reactor, an integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) was operated (26 °C). The effects of floccular aerobic sludge retention time (AerSRT_floc), a novel aeration strategy, and N-loading rate were tested to optimize the operational strategy. The best performance was observed with a low, but sufficient AerSRTfloc (~7d) and continuous aeration with two alternating dissolved oxygen setpoints: 10 min at 0.07–0.13 mg O2 L−1 and 5 min at 0.27–0.43 mg O2 L−1. Nitrogen removal rates were 122 ± 23 mg N L−1 d−1, and removal efficiencies 73 ± 13%. These conditions enabled flocs to act as nitrite sources while the carriers were nitrite sinks, with low abundance of nitrite oxidizing bacteria. The operational strategies in the source-sink framework can serve as a guideline for successful operation of mainstream PN/A reactors.

Abstract: Atomic collapse can be observed in graphene because of its large “effective” fine structure constant, which enables this phenomenon to occur for an impurity charge as low as Z(c) similar to 1-2. Here we investigate the effect of the sublattice symmetry on molecular collapse in two spatially separated charge tunable vacancies, which are located on the same (A-A type) or different (A-B type) sublattices. We find that the broken sublattice symmetry: (1) does not affect the location of the main bonding and antibonding molecular collapse peaks, (2) but shifts the position of the satellite peaks, because they are a consequence of the breaking of the local sublattice symmetry, and (3) there are vacancy characteristic collapse peaks that only occur for A-B type vacancies, which can be employed to distinguish them experimentally from the A-A type. As the charge, energy, and separation distance increase, the additional collapse features merge with the main molecular collapse peaks. We show that the spatial distribution around the vacancy site of the collapse states allows us to differentiate the molecular from the frustrated collapse.

Abstract: In this paper electrodeposition is used to obtain Cu nanoparticles, as it allows good control over particle size and distribution. These Cu particles were deposited onto a gas diffusion electrode which increased the resulting surface area. Prior to deposition, the surface was pre-treated with NaOH, HNO3, MQ and TX100 to investigate the influence on the electrodeposition of Cu on the gas diffusion electrode (GDE). When using HNO3, the smallest particles with the most homogeneous distribution and high particle roughness were obtained. Once the optimal substrate was determined, we further demonstrated that by altering the electrodeposition parameters, the particle size and density could be tuned. On the one hand, increasing the nucleation potential led to a higher particle density resulting in smaller particles because of an increased competition between particles. Finally, the Cu particle size increased when applying a greater growth charge and growth potential. This fundamental study thus opens up a path towards the synthesis of supported Cu materials with increased surface areas, which is interesting from a catalytic point of view. Larger surface areas are generally correlated with a better catalyst performance and thus higher product yields. This research can contributed in obtaining new insides into the deposition of metallic nanoparticles on rough surfaces. [GRAPHICS] .

Abstract: Electrochemical sensing for the semi-quantitative detection of biomarkers, drugs, environmental contaminants, food additives, etc. shows promising results in point-of-care diagnostics and on-site monitoring. More specifically, electrochemical fingerprint (EF)-based sensing strategies are considered an inviting approach for the on-site detection of low molecular weight molecules. The fast growth of electrochemical sensors requires defining the concept of direct electrochemical fingerprinting in sensing. The EF can be defined as the unique electrochemical signal or pattern, mostly recorded by voltammetric techniques, specific for a certain molecule that can be used for its quantitative or semi-quantitative identification in a given analytical context with specified circumstances. The performance of EF-based sensors can be enhanced by considering multiple features of the signal (i.e., oxidation or reduction patterns), in combination with statistical data analysis or sample pretreatments or by including electrode surface modifiers to enrich the EF. In this manuscript, some examples of EF-based sensors, strategies to improve their performances, and open challenges are discussed to unlock the full power of electrochemical fingerprinting for on-site sensing applications.

Abstract: First-principles calculations have been carried out to investigate the stability, structural and electronic properties of two-dimensional (2D) hydrogenated GaAs with three possible geometries: chair, zigzag-line and boat configurations. The effect of van der Waals interactions on 2D H-GaAs systems has also been studied. These configurations were found to be energetic and dynamic stable, as well as having a semiconducting character. Although 2D GaAs adsorbed with H tends to form a zigzag-line configuration, the energy differences between chair, zigzag-line and boat are very small which implies the metastability of the system. Chair and boat configurations display a – direct bandgap nature, while pristine 2D-GaAs and zigzag-line are indirect semiconductors. The bandgap sizes of all configurations are also hydrogen dependent, and wider than that of pristine 2D-GaAs with both PBE and HSE functionals. Even though DFT-vdW interactions increase the adsorption energies and reduce the equilibrium distances of H-GaAs systems, it presents, qualitatively, the same physical results on the stability and electronic properties of our studied systems with PBE functional. According to our results, 2D buckled gallium arsenide is a good candidate to be synthesized by hydrogen surface passivation as its group III-V partners 2D buckled gallium nitride and boron nitride. The hydrogenation of 2D-GaAs tunes the bandgap of pristine 2D-GaAs, which makes it a potential candidate for optoelectronic applications in the blue and violet ranges of the visible electromagnetic spectrum.

Abstract: The interaction between a bioreceptor and its target is key in developing sensitive, specific and robust diagnostic devices. Suboptimal interbioreceptor distances and bioreceptor orientation on the sensor surface, resulting from uncontrolled deposition, impede biomolecular interactions and lead to a decreased biosensor performance. In this work, we studied and implemented a 3D DNA origami design, for the first time comprised of assay specifically tailored anchoring points for the nanostructuring of the bioreceptor layer on the surface of disc-shaped microparticles in the continuous microfluidic environment of the innovative EvalutionTM platform. This bioreceptor immobilization strategy resulted in the formation of a less densely packed surface with reduced steric hindrance and favoured upward orientation. This increased bioreceptor accessibility led to a 4-fold enhanced binding kinetics and a 6-fold increase in binding efficiency compared to a directly immobilized non-DNA origami reference system. Moreover, the DNA origami nanotailored biosensing concept outperformed traditional aptamer coupling with respect to limit of detection (11 × improved) and signal-to-noise ratio (2.5 × improved) in an aptamer-based sandwich bioassay. In conclusion, our results highlight the potential of these DNA origami nanotailored surfaces to improve biomolecular interactions at the sensing surface, thereby increasing the overall performance of biosensing devices. The combination of the intrinsic advantages of DNA origami together with a smart design enables bottom-up nanoscale engineering of the sensor surface, leading towards the next generation of improved diagnostic sensing devices.