C and S induces changes in the electronic and geometric structure of Pd(533) and Pd(320)

We have performed ab initio electronic structure calculations of C and S adsorption on two vicinal surfaces of Pd with different terrace geometry and width. We find both adsorbates to induce a significant perturbation of the surface electronic and geometric structure of Pd(533) and Pd(320). In particular C adsorbed at the bridge site at the edge of a Pd chain in Pd(320) is found to penetrate the surface to form a sub-surface structure. The adsorption energies show almost linear dependence on the number of adsorbate-metal bonds, and lie in the ranges of 5.31eV to 8.58eV for C and 2.89eV to 5.40eV for S. A strong hybridization between adsorbate and surface electronic states causes a large splitting of the bands leading to a drastic decrease in the local densities of electronic states at the Fermi-level for Pd surface atoms neighboring the adsorbate which may poison catalytic activity of the surface. Comparison of the results for Pd(533) with those obtained earlier for Pd(211) suggests the local character of the impact of the adsorbate on the geometric and electronic structures of Pd surfaces.Comment: 14 pages 9 figs, Accepted J. Phys: Conden

Optimization of accurate estimation of single diode solar photovoltaic parameters and extraction of maximum power point under different conditions

Introduction. With the snowballing requirement of renewable resources of energy, solar energy has been an area of key concern to the increasing demand for electricity. Solar photovoltaic has gotten a considerable amount of consideration from researchers in recent years. Purpose. For generating nearly realistic curves for the solar cell model it is needed to estimate unknown parameters with utmost precision. The five unknown parameters include diode-ideality factor, shunt-resistance, photon-current, diode dark saturation current, and series-resistance. Novelty. The proposed research method hybridizes flower pollination algorithm with least square method to better estimate the unknown parameters, and produce more realistic curves. Methodology. The proposed method shows many promising results that are more realistic in nature, as compared to other methods. Shunt-resistance and series-resistance are considered and diode constant is not neglected in this approach that previously has been in practice. The values of series-resistance and diode-ideality factor are found using flower pollination algorithm while shunt-resistance, diode dark saturation current and photon-current are found through least square method. Results. The combination of these techniques has achieved better results compared to other techniques. The simulation studies are carried on MATLAB/Simulink.Вступ. З огляду на величезну потребу у відновлюваних енергетичних ресурсах, сонячна енергія стала ключовою сферою розв’язання проблеми зростання попиту на електроенергію. За останні роки сонячна фотоелектрична техніка отримала значну увагу з боку дослідників. Мета. Для створення майже реалістичних кривих для моделі сонячних батарей необхідно оцінити невідомі параметри з максимальною точністю. П'ять невідомих параметрів включають коефіцієнт ідеальності діодів, опір шунту, фотонний струм, струм темного насичення діодів і послідовний опір. Новизна. Запропонований метод дослідження поєднує алгоритм запилення квітів із методом найменших квадратів для кращої оцінки невідомих параметрів та отримання більш реалістичних кривих. Методологія. Запропонований метод демонструє багато перспективних результатів, які є більш реалістичними за своєю природою, порівняно з іншими методами. Розглянуто опір шунта і послідовний опір, і в цьому підході, який раніше застосовувався на практиці, не нехтують постійною діода. Значення послідовного опору та коефіцієнта ідеальності діодів визначаються за допомогою алгоритму запилення квіток, тоді як опір шунту, струм темного насичення діодів і фотонний струм - методом найменших квадратів. Результати. Поєднання цих методів забезпечило кращі результати у порівнянні з іншими методами. Моделювання проводиться на MATLAB/Simulink

Broadband spin-controlled focusing via logarithmic-spiral nanoslits of varying width

This work presents analytical, numerical and experimental demonstrations of light diffracted through a logarithmic spiral (LS) nanoslit, which forms a type of switchable and focus-tunable structure. Owing to a strong dependence on the incident photon spin, the proposed LS-nanoslit converges incoming light of opposite handedness (to that of the LS-nanoslit) into a confined subwavelength spot, while it shapes light with similar chirality into a donut-like intensity profile. Benefitting from the varying width of the LS-nanoslit, different incident wavelengths interfere constructively at different positions, i.e., the focal length shifts from 7.5 μm (at λ = 632.8 nm) to 10 μm (at λ = 488 nm), which opens up new opportunities for tuning and spatially separating broadband light at the micrometer scale

Oxygen reduction reaction activity in non-precious single-atom (M–N/C ) catalysts-contribution of metal and carbon/nitrogen framework-based sites.

We examine the performance of a number of single-atom M-N/C electrocatalysts with a common structure in order to deconvolute the activity of the framework N/C support from the metal M-N4 sites in M-N/Cs. The formation of the N/C framework with coordinating nitrogen sites is performed using zinc as a templating agent. After the formation of the electrically conducting carbon-nitrogen metal-coordinating network, we (trans)metalate with different metals producing a range of different catalysts (Fe-N/C, Co-N/C, Ni-N/C, Sn-N/C, Sb-N/C, and Bi-N/C) without the formation of any metal particles. In these materials, the structure of the carbon/nitrogen framework remains unchanged-only the coordinated metal is substituted. We assess the performance of the subsequent catalysts in acid, near-neutral, and alkaline environments toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and ascribe and quantify the performance to a combination of metal site activity and activity of the carbon/nitrogen framework. The ORR activity of the carbon/nitrogen framework is about 1000-fold higher in alkaline than it is in acid, suggesting a change in mechanism. At 0.80 VRHE, only Fe and Co contribute ORR activity significantly beyond that provided by the carbon/nitrogen framework at all pH values studied. In acid and near-neutral pH values (pH 0.3 and 5.2, respectively), Fe shows a 30-fold improvement and Co shows a 5-fold improvement, whereas in alkaline pH (pH 13), both Fe and Co show a 7-fold improvement beyond the baseline framework activity. The site density of the single metal atom sites is estimated using the nitrite adsorption and stripping method. This method allows us to deconvolute the framework sites and metal-based active sites. The framework site density of catalysts is estimated as 7.8 × 1018 sites g-1. The metal M-N4 site densities in Fe-N/C and Co-N/C are 9.4 × 1018 sites-1 and 4.8 × 1018 sites g-1, respectively

A Robust Regression-Based Stock Exchange Forecasting and Determination of Correlation between Stock Markets

Knowledge-based decision support systems for financial management are an important part of investment plans. Investors are avoiding investing in traditional investment areas such as banks due to low return on investment. The stock exchange is one of the major areas for investment presently. Various non-linear and complex factors affect the stock exchange. A robust stock exchange forecasting system remains an important need. From this line of research, we evaluate the performance of a regression-based model to check the robustness over large datasets. We also evaluate the effect of top stock exchange markets on each other. We evaluate our proposed model on the top 4 stock exchanges—New York, London, NASDAQ and Karachi stock exchange. We also evaluate our model on the top 3 companies—Apple, Microsoft, and Google. A huge (Big Data) historical data is gathered from Yahoo finance consisting of 20 years. Such huge data creates a Big Data problem. The performance of our system is evaluated on a 1-step, 6-step, and 12-step forecast. The experiments show that the proposed system produces excellent results. The results are presented in terms of Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE)

Raman Spectroscopic Mapping for the Analysis of Solar Radiation Induced Skin Damage

The effects of simulated solar irradiation of an artificial skin model have been examined using Raman spectroscopy and the results are compared with cytotoxicological and histological profiling. Samples exposed for times varying between 30 minutes and 240 minutes were incubated post exposure for a period of 96hours. The cytotoxicological response as measured by the MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyl tetrazolium bromide] assay demonstrated a ~50% loss of viability of the artificial tissue after 120 minutes exposure. Histological staining of tissue sections showed considerable loss of cellular content in the epidermal layer at this endpoint. Raman spectroscopic mapping of tissue sections, coupled with K-means cluster analysis (KMCA) clearly identified the dermal and stratum corneum layers and differentiated further substructures of the epidermis. Post irradiation, a significant loss of DNA features in the basal layer was apparent in the results of the KMCA. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) of layers identified by the KMCA post exposure compared with controls indicated a significant increase in the lipidic signatures of the stratum corneum. In the dermal layer, little photodamage was observed, but a similar increase in lipidic signatures in the basal layer was accompanied by a decrease in DNA and protein contributions. The spectral profiles of the photodamage to the basal layer as identified by PCA are consistent over the exposure periods of 30-240 minutes, but an examination of the evolution of features associated with specific biochemical components indicated DNA damage and loss of lipidic signatures at the early exposure times, whereas changes in protein signatures appeared to evolve over longer periods. In comparison to the cytotoxicological responses, the study demonstrates that Raman spectroscopy can identify biochemical changes as a result of solar exposure at time points significantly earlier than changes in tissue viability are observed