Cross-linked CoMoO4/rGO nanosheets as oxygen reduction catalyst

Development of inexpensive and robust electrocatalysts towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is crucial for the cost-affordable manufacturing of metal-air batteries and fuel cells. Here we show that cross-linked CoMoO4 nanosheets and reduced graphene oxide (CoMoO4/rGO) can be integrated in a hybrid material under one-pot hydrothermal conditions, yielding a composite material with promising catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) were used to investigate the efficiency of the fabricated CoMoO4/rGO catalyst towards ORR in alkaline conditions. The CoMoO4/rGO composite revealed the main reduction peak and onset potential centered at 0.78 and 0.89 V (vs. RHE), respectively. This study shows that the CoMoO4/rGO composite is a highly promising catalyst for the ORR under alkaline conditions, and potential noble metal replacement cathode in fuel cells and metal-air batteries

Observation of Active Sites for Oxygen Reduction Reaction on Nitrogen-doped Multilayer Graphene

Active sites and catalytic mechanism of nitrogen-doped graphene in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) have been extensively studied but are still inconclusive, partly due to the lack of an experimental method that can detect the active sites. It is proposed in this report that the active sites on nitrogen-doped graphene can be determined via the examination of its chemical composition change before and after ORR. Synchrotron-based X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses of three nitrogen-doped multilayer graphene samples reveal that oxygen reduction intermediate OH(ads) which should chemically attach to the active sites remains on the carbon atoms neighboring pyridinic nitrogen after ORR. In addition, a high amount of the OH(ads) attachment after ORR corresponds to a high catalytic efficiency and vice versa. These pinpoint that the carbon atoms close to pyridinic nitrogen are the main active sites among the different nitrogen doping configurations

The Dust Attenuation Scaling Relation of Star-Forming Galaxies in the EAGLE Simulations

Dust attenuation in star-forming galaxies (SFGs), as parameterized by the infrared excess (IRX $\equiv L_{\rm IR}/L_{\rm UV}$), is found to be tightly correlated with star formation rate (SFR), metallicity and galaxy size, following a universal IRX relation up to $z=3$. This scaling relation can provide a fundamental constraint for theoretical models to reconcile galaxy star formation, chemical enrichment, and structural evolution across cosmic time. We attempt to reproduce the universal IRX relation over $0.1\leq z\leq 2.5$ using the EAGLE hydrodynamical simulations and examine sensitive parameters in determining galaxy dust attenuation. Our findings show that while the predicted universal IRX relation from EAGLE approximately aligns with observations at $z\leq 0.5$, noticeable disparities arise at different stellar masses and higher redshifts. Specifically, we investigate how modifying various galaxy parameters can affect the predicted universal IRX relation in comparison to the observed data. We demonstrate that the simulated gas-phase metallicity is the critical quantity for the shape of the predicted universal IRX relation. We find that the influence of the infrared luminosity and infrared excess is less important while galaxy size has virtually no significant effect. Overall, the EAGLE simulations are not able to replicate some of the observed characteristics between IRX and galaxy parameters of SFGs, emphasizing the need for further investigation and testing for our current state-of-the-art theoretical models.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

The Physical Properties of Star-Forming Galaxies with Strong [O III] Lines at z=3.25

We present an analysis of physical properties of 34 [O III] emission-line galaxies (ELGs) at z=3.254$\pm$0.029 in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (ECDFS). These ELGs are selected from deep narrow H2S(1) and broad Ks imaging of 383 arcmin$^{2}$ obtained with CFHT/WIRCam. We construct spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from U to Ks to derive the physical properties of ELGs. These [O III] ELGs are identified as starburst galaxies with strong [O III] lines of L([O III]) ~ 10$^{42.6}$ - 10$^{44.2}$ erg s$^{-1}$, and have stellar masses of M* ~ 10$^{9.0}$-10$^{10.6}$ M$_\odot$ and star formation rates of ~ 10-210 M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$. Our results show that 24% of our sample galaxies are dusty with Av > 1 mag and EW(OIII)$_{rest}$ ~ 70-500 $\AA$, which are often missed in optically selected [O III] ELG samples. Their rest-frame UV and optical morphologies from HST/ACS and HST/WFC3 deep imaging reveal that these [O III] ELGs are mostly multiple-component systems (likely mergers) or compact. And 20% of them are nearly invisible in the rest-frame UV owing to heavy dust attenuation. Interestingly, we find that our samples reside in an overdensity consisting of two components: one southeast (SE) with an overdensity factor of $\delta_{gal}$ ~ 41 over a volume of 13$^{3}$ cMpc$^{3}$ and the other northwest (NW) with $\delta_{gal}$ ~ 38 over a volume of 10$^{3}$ cMpc$^{3}$. The two overdense substructures are expected to be virialized at z=0 with a total mass of ~ 1.1 x 10$^{15}$ M$_\odot$ and ~ 4.8 x 10$^{14}$ M$_\odot$, and probably merge into a Coma-like galaxy cluster.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap

Ground calibration of Gamma-Ray Detectors of GECAM-C

As a new member of GECAM mission, GECAM-C (also named High Energy Burst Searcher, HEBS) was launched onboard the SATech-01 satellite on July 27th, 2022, which is capable to monitor gamma-ray transients from $\sim$ 6 keV to 6 MeV. As the main detector, there are 12 gamma-ray detectors (GRDs) equipped for GECAM-C. In order to verify the GECAM-C GRD detector performance and to validate the Monte Carlo simulations of detector response, comprehensive on-ground calibration experiments have been performed using X-ray beam and radioactive sources, including Energy-Channel relation, energy resolution, detection efficiency, SiPM voltage-gain relation and the non-uniformity of positional response. In this paper, the detailed calibration campaigns and data analysis results for GECAM-C GRDs are presented, demonstrating the excellent performance of GECAM-C GRD detectors.Comment: third versio

Calibration of the Timing Performance of GECAM-C

As a new member of the Gravitational wave high-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM) after GECAM-A and GECAM-B, GECAM-C (originally called HEBS), which was launched on board the SATech-01 satellite on July 27, 2022, aims to monitor and localize X-ray and gamma-ray transients from $\sim$ 6 keV to 6 MeV. GECAM-C utilizes a similar design to GECAM but operates in a more complex orbital environment. In this work, we utilize the secondary particles simultaneously produced by the cosmic-ray events on orbit and recorded by multiple detectors, to calibrate the relative timing accuracy between all detectors of GECAM-C. We find the result is 0.1 $\mu \rm s$, which is the highest time resolution among all GRB detectors ever flown and very helpful in timing analyses such as minimum variable timescale and spectral lags, as well as in time delay localization. Besides, we calibrate the absolute time accuracy using the one-year Crab pulsar data observed by GECAM-C and Fermi/GBM, as well as GECAM-C and GECAM-B. The results are $2.02\pm 2.26\ \mu \rm s$ and $5.82\pm 3.59\ \mu \rm s$, respectively. Finally, we investigate the spectral lag between the different energy bands of Crab pulsar observed by GECAM and GBM, which is $\sim -0.2\ {\rm \mu s\ keV^{-1}}$.Comment: submitte

Synchrotron Radiation Dominates the Extremely Bright GRB 221009A

The brightest Gamma-ray burst, GRB 221009A, has spurred numerous theoretical investigations, with particular attention paid to the origins of ultra-high energy TeV photons during the prompt phase. However, analyzing the mechanism of radiation of photons in the $\sim$MeV range has been difficult because the high flux causes pile-up and saturation effects in most GRB detectors. In this letter, we present systematic modeling of the time-resolved spectra of the GRB using unsaturated data obtained from Fermi/GBM (precursor) and SATech-01/GECAM-C (main emission and flare). Our approach incorporates the synchrotron radiation model, which assumes an expanding emission region with relativistic speed and a global magnetic field that decays with radius, and successfully fits such a model to the observational data. Our results indicate that the spectra of the burst are fully in accordance with a synchrotron origin from relativistic electrons accelerated at a large emission radius. The lack of thermal emission in the prompt emission spectra supports a Poynting-flux-dominated jet composition.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Observation of GRB 221009A early afterglow in X/γ\gamma-ray energy band

The early afterglow of a Gamma-ray burst (GRB) can provide critical information on the jet and progenitor of the GRB. The extreme brightness of GRB 221009A allows us to probe its early afterglow in unprecedented detail. In this letter, we report comprehensive observation results of the early afterglow of GRB 221009A (from $T_0$+660 s to $T_0$+1860 s, where $T_0$ is the \textit{Insight}-HXMT/HE trigger time) in X/$\gamma$-ray energy band (from 20 keV to 20 MeV) by \textit{Insight}-HXMT/HE, GECAM-C and \textit{Fermi}/GBM. We find that the spectrum of the early afterglow in 20 keV-20 MeV could be well described by a cutoff power-law with an extra power-law which dominates the low and high energy bands respectively. The cutoff power-law $E_{\rm peak}$ is $\sim$ 30 keV and the power-law photon index is $\sim$ 1.8 throughout the early afterglow phase. By fitting the light curves in different energy bands, we find that a significant achromatic break (from keV to TeV) is required at $T_0$ + 1246$^{+27}_{-26}$ s (i.e. 1021 s since the afterglow starting time $T_{\rm AG}$=$T_0$+225 s), providing compelling evidence of a jet break. Interestingly, both the pre-break and post-break decay slopes vary with energy, and these two slopes become closer in the lower energy band, making the break less identifiable. Intriguingly, the spectrum of the early afterglow experienced a slight hardening before the break and a softening after the break. These results provide new insights into the understanding of this remarkable GRB.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters on 19-Jan-2024, 11 pages, 7 figures and 2 table

Phylogenetic Comparison of F-Box (FBX) Gene Superfamily within the Plant Kingdom Reveals Divergent Evolutionary Histories Indicative of Genomic Drift

The emergence of multigene families has been hypothesized as a major contributor to the evolution of complex traits and speciation. To help understand how such multigene families arose and diverged during plant evolution, we examined the phylogenetic relationships of F-Box (FBX) genes, one of the largest and most polymorphic superfamilies known in the plant kingdom. FBX proteins comprise the target recognition subunit of SCF-type ubiquitin-protein ligases, where they individually recruit specific substrates for ubiquitylation. Through the extensive analysis of 10,811 FBX loci from 18 plant species, ranging from the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to numerous monocots and eudicots, we discovered strikingly diverse evolutionary histories. The number of FBX loci varies widely and appears independent of the growth habit and life cycle of land plants, with a little as 198 predicted for Carica papaya to as many as 1350 predicted for Arabidopsis lyrata. This number differs substantially even among closely related species, with evidence for extensive gains/losses. Despite this extraordinary inter-species variation, one subset of FBX genes was conserved among most species examined. Together with evidence of strong purifying selection and expression, the ligases synthesized from these conserved loci likely direct essential ubiquitylation events. Another subset was much more lineage specific, showed more relaxed purifying selection, and was enriched in loci with little or no evidence of expression, suggesting that they either control more limited, species-specific processes or arose from genomic drift and thus may provide reservoirs for evolutionary innovation. Numerous FBX loci were also predicted to be pseudogenes with their numbers tightly correlated with the total number of FBX genes in each species. Taken together, it appears that the FBX superfamily has independently undergone substantial birth/death in many plant lineages, with its size and rapid evolution potentially reflecting a central role for ubiquitylation in driving plant fitness