High Performance Electrocatalysts Based on Pt Nanoarchitecture for Fuel Cell Applications

Fuel cells, converting chemical energy from fuels into electricity directly without the need for combustion, are promising energy conversion devices for their potential applications as environmentally friendly, energy efficient power sources. However, to take fuel cell technology forward towards commercialization, we need to achieve further improvements in electrocatalyst technology, which can play an extremely important role in essentially determining cost-effectiveness, performance, and durability. In particular, platinum- (Pt-) based electrocatalyst approaches have been extensively investigated and actively pursued to meet those demands as an ideal fuel cell catalyst due to their most outstanding activity for both cathode oxygen reduction reactions and anode fuel oxidation reactions. In this review, we will address important issues and recent progress in the development of Pt-based catalysts, their synthesis, and characterization. We will also review snapshots of research that are focused on essential dynamics aspects of electrocatalytic reactions, such as the shape effects on the catalytic activity of Pt-based nanostructures, the relationships between structural morphology of Pt-based nanostructures and electrochemical reactions on both cathode and anode electrodes, and the effects of composition and electronic structure of Pt-based catalysts on electrochemical reaction properties of fuel cells.</jats:p

24^{24}Mg(pp, α\alpha)21^{21}Na reaction study for spectroscopy of 21^{21}Na

The $^{24}$Mg($p$, $\alpha$)$^{21}$Na reaction was measured at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in order to better constrain spins and parities of energy levels in $^{21}$Na for the astrophysically important $^{17}$F($\alpha, p$)$^{20}$Ne reaction rate calculation. 31 MeV proton beams from the 25-MV tandem accelerator and enriched $^{24}$Mg solid targets were used. Recoiling $^{4}$He particles from the $^{24}$Mg($p$, $\alpha$)$^{21}$Na reaction were detected by a highly segmented silicon detector array which measured the yields of $^{4}$He particles over a range of angles simultaneously. A new level at 6661 $\pm$ 5 keV was observed in the present work. The extracted angular distributions for the first four levels of $^{21}$Na and Distorted Wave Born Approximation (DWBA) calculations were compared to verify and extract angular momentum transfer.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Accelerators and Beam Utilization (ICABU2014

Development of Bis-GMA-free biopolymer to avoid estrogenicity

Objective: Although bisphenol A-glycidyl methacrylate (Bis-GMA)-based dental materials are widely used in dentistry, Estrogenicity from released bisphenol A remains a concern due to possibility of adversely affecting the growth of children and homeostasis of adults. Here, a new family of isosorbide-derived biomonomers were synthesized and experimentally utilized as a matrix of dental sealants to provide physico-mechanical and biological properties comparable to those of a conventional Bis-GMA-based material but without the the potential estrogenicity. / Methods: After synthesis of isosorbide-derived biomonomers (ISDB) by light polymerization, an experimental dental sealant with different silica filler concentrations (0–15 wt%) was characterized and compared to a commercially available Bis-GMA-based sealant. Cytotoxicity and estrogenicity assays were conducted with human oral keratinocytes and estrogen-sensitive MCF-7 cells, respectively. / Results: ISDB-based dental sealants exhibited typical initially smooth surfaces with depth of cure, Vickers hardness, compressive strength/modulus, water resorption/solubility, and flowability comparable to those of the commercial sealant and met the ISO standard for dental sealants and polymer-based restorative materials. Indirect cytotoxicity tests using an extract showed comparable viability among experimental ISDB-based materials and a commercial Bis-GMA-incorporated control. DNA synthesis in MCF-7 cells (a marker of estrogenicity) and the release of bisphenol A under enzymatic incubation were not detected in ISDB-based materials. / Significance: In conclusion, the comparable physico-mechanical properties of ISDB-based materials with their cytocompatibility and lack of estrogenicity suggest the potential usefulness of ISDBs as a newly developed and safe biomaterial

Ogle-2018-blg-0677lb: A super earth near the galactic bulge

We report the analysis of the microlensing event OGLE-2018-BLG-0677. A small feature in the light curve of the event leads to the discovery that the lens is a star-planet system. Although there are two degenerate solutions that could not be distinguished for this event, both lead to a similar planet-host mass ratio. We perform a Bayesian analysis based on a Galactic model to obtain the properties of the system and find that the planet corresponds to a super-Earth/sub-Neptune with a mass $M_{\mathrm{planet}} = {3.96}^{+5.88}_{-2.66}\mathrm{M_\oplus}$. The host star has a mass $M_{\mathrm{host}} = {0.12}^{+0.14}_{-0.08}\mathrm{M_\odot}$. The projected separation for the inner and outer solutions are ${0.63}^{+0.20}_{-0.17}$~AU and ${0.72}^{+0.23}_{-0.19}$~AU respectively. At $\Delta\chi^2=\chi^2({\rm 1L1S})-\chi^2({\rm 2L1S})=46$, this is by far the lowest $\Delta\chi^2$ for any securely-detected microlensing planet to date, a feature that is closely connected to the fact that it is detected primarily via a "dip" rather than a "bump".Comment: 15 page, 12 figures, Published in A

Flux Pinning and Phase Transitions in Model High-Temperature Superconductors with Columnar Defects

We calculate the degree of flux pinning by defects in model high-temperature superconductors (HTSC's). The HTSC is modeled as a three-dimensional network of resistively-shunted Josephson junctions in an external magnetic field, corresponding to a HTSC in the extreme Type-II limit. Disorder is introduced either by randomizing the coupling between grains (Model A disorder) or by removing grains (Model B disorder). Three types of defects are considered: point disorder, random line disorder, and periodic line disorder; but the emphasis is on random line disorder. Static and dynamic properties of the models are determined by Monte Carlo simulations and by solution of the analogous coupled overdamped Josephson equations in the presence of thermal noise. Random line defects considerably raise the superconducting transition temperature T$_c(B)$, and increase the apparent critical current density J$_c(B,T)$, in comparison to the defect-free crystal. They are more effective in these respects than a comparable volume density of point defects, in agreement with the experiments of Civale {\it et al}. Periodic line defects commensurate with the flux lattice are found to raise T$_c(B)$ even more than do random line defects. Random line defects are most effective when their density approximately equals the flux density. Near T$_c(B)$, our static and dynamic results appear consistent with the anisotropic Bose glass scaling hypotheses of Nelson and Vinokur, but with possibly different critical indices:Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX(REVTeX v3.0, twocolumn), 11 figures (not included

Phase diagram of a Disordered Boson Hubbard Model in Two Dimensions

We study the zero-temperature phase transition of a two-dimensional disordered boson Hubbard model. The phase diagram of this model is constructed in terms of the disorder strength and the chemical potential. Via quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we find a multicritical line separating the weak-disorder regime, where a random potential is irrelevant, from the strong-disorder regime. In the weak-disorder regime, the Mott-insulator-to-superfluid transition occurs, while, in the strong-disorder regime, the Bose-glass-to-superfluid transition occurs. On the multicritical line, the insulator-to-superfluid transition has the dynamical critical exponent $z=1.35 \pm 0.05$ and the correlation length critical exponent $\nu=0.67 \pm 0.03$, that are different from the values for the transitions off the line. We suggest that the proliferation of the particle-hole pairs screens out the weak disorder effects.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in PR