China's Sovereign Wealth Fund : Weakness and Challenges

The establishment of sovereign wealth funds in large developing countries has generated hot debate among participants in the international financial market. When accumulated foreign exchange reserves surpass a sufficient and an appropriate level, the costs, risks and impacts on the macro-economy of countries holding reserves need to be considered. The Chinese Government established China Investment Corporation (CIC) in 2007 to diversify its investment of foreign reserves and to raise investment income. However, because of certain conflicts of interest and institution-design caveats, CIC possesses some internal weakness, including a vague orientation, mixed investment strategies and inefficient bureaucratic style. Although the subprime crisis has softened certain regulations and lessened rejection by the USA of CIC potential investments, the increased volatility and uncertainty of the market means that CIC is facing some new challenges in terms of its investment decisions. Moreover, CIC is competing with other Chinese investment institutions for injections of funds from the Chinese Government.CIC, external challenge, internal weakness, foreign exchange reserve management, sovereign wealth fund

How Fashion Teaches Philosophy about Beauty?

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College

A Computational Model of Quantitatively Measuring the Alzheimer's Disease Progression in Face Identification

There are numerous large-scale biomedical and pharmacological research projects to study Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), and potential drugs and therapeutic interventions to improve this severe disease. Of significant importance are life quality of AD patients.In particular, AD patient’s ability to recognize intimate family members and nurses’ faces largely decides their life quality. The broad objective of this research is focused on providing methods to determine the extent of disease progress from the viewpoint of recovering as much cognitive ability as possible.Specifically, this research would computerize the AD patient’s diseased brain and retrained the brain with focus on recovering the visual recognition ability of family member and medical care personnel. Likewise, potential recommendations for the patients’ family members and others who interact with the patients, in order to help improve quality of life and daily interactions

Emerging electrocatalytic strategies for small molecule electrosynthesis

À la lumière du changement climatique et de l'épuisement des réserves de combustibles fossiles, l'innovation dans les technologies énergétiques vertes et durables devient un défi crucial. La fabrication de produits chimiques consomme de grandes quantités d'énergie et est responsable d'une part importante des émissions mondiales de carbone. Dans ce contexte, l'électrosynthèse, alimentée par de l'électricité renouvelable, peut remplacer de nombreux procédés thermochimiques industriels pour générer des carburants, des produits chimiques et des engrais. Plutôt que de nous concentrer sur des domaines qui ont reçu beaucoup d'attention ces dernières années (par exemple, l'électrolyse de l'eau et la réduction du CO2), nous avons exploré les domaines émergents de l'électrosynthèse hétérogène pour lesquels il existe un besoin substantiel. Dans le chapitre 3, nous soulignons l'importance de concevoir des électrocatalyseurs avec des sites actifs bien définis. Nous rapportons l'utilisation de la chimie réticulaire pour concevoir un système de modèle électrocatalytique à base d'organo-métallique conducteur avec des sites actifs moléculaires M-O4 pour l'oxydation électrochimique du 5-hydroxyméthylfurfural (HMFOR). L'activité des MOF portant des sites actifs Ni-O4 (Ni-CAT) et Co-O4 (Co-CAT) a été analysée avec des techniques spectroscopiques électrochimiques et operando pour élucider le mécanisme de réaction se produisant à la surface. Les expériences électrochimiques révèlent que le Co-CAT a un potentiel d'apparition plus précoce pour activer le HMFOR, par rapport à la plupart des catalyseurs établis, tandis que le Ni-CAT présente une cinétique plus rapide pour la conversion du 5-hydroxyméthylfurfural (HMF) en acide 2,5-furandicarboxylique (FDCA) . Nous avons déterminé que Ni-CAT atteignait des rendements de FDCA (notre molécule cible) de 98,7 %. L'efficacité faradique peut atteindre 86,8% d'efficacité faradique. La spectroscopie infrarouge indique le HMF avec un groupe aldéhyde lié à la surface comme intermédiaire clé dans le cycle catalytique, qui se forme une fois que l'oxydation M (II \ III) se produit. Ce travail illustre l'avantage d'utiliser des sites actifs moléculairement définis couplés à la spectroscopie operando pour fournir des informations fondamentales sur une variété de réactions électrosynthétiques et ouvrir la voie à la conception future de catalyseurs. Suite à ce projet, nous nous sommes tournés vers l'utilisation d'un réacteur à membrane sélective pour l'hydrogène afin d'explorer de nouveaux concepts de réaction et de catalyseurs. La clé ici était d'utiliser une feuille de Pd comme matériau qui réduisait les protons en *H dans un compartiment aqueux et transférait l'hydrogène dans un compartiment organique où il hydrogénait le réactif de choix. À l'aide d'un réacteur à membrane, nous avons pu séparer physiquement la réduction électrochimique de l'hydrogène et la chimie de l'hydrogénation d'une manière qui contournait l'utilisation du gaz H2 qui serait autrement nécessaire. Nous choisissons comme point de départ un produit chimique produit industriellement en excès, l'acétonitrile. Le réacteur à membrane Pd est appliqué pour hydrogéner complètement la liaison C≡N de l'acétonitrile. Avec succès, nous avons obtenu de l'ammoniac et de l'acétaldéhyde comme produits de réaction à un potentiel de début record de 0,4 V vs Ag/AgCl. Enfin, en concevant soigneusement une cellule spectroélectrochimique unique, nous avons pu effectuer des mesures spectroscopiques infrarouges pour visualiser le processus de réaction dans la membrane Pd et par conséquent proposé un mécanisme unique de réaction d'hydrolyse de l'imine (Chapitre 4). Dans le chapitre 5, nous choisissons d'innover dans un domaine émergent : la formation de liaisons électrochimiques C-N à partir de réactifs de petites molécules (par exemple CO2, NH3). Le mécanisme conventionnel de formation de liaisons électrochimiques C-N est basé sur le CO2RR électrochimique. Dans ce chapitre, nous proposons une stratégie orthogonale pour activer simultanément le CO2 et les N-réactifs en appliquant respectivement des impulsions de potentiel négatives et positives. Les nanoparticules de Cu sont utilisées comme catalyseur modèle, le CO2 agit comme réactif C et le NH3 agit comme réactif N pour le couplage C-N. Dans des conditions optimisées dans lesquelles la couverture *NH2 est maintenue à l'état stable tandis que Cu reste métallique, l'électrolyse pulsée augmente à la fois le taux de formation et la sélectivité des produits C-N urée, formamide et acétamide de 3 à 20 fois. En étendant le champ d'application à des réactifs C et N supplémentaires, ainsi qu'au couplage C-S, cette nouvelle approche démontre davantage sa valeur générale en électrosynthèse.In light of climate change and depleting fossil fuel reserves, innovating green and sustainable energy technologies becomes a critical challenge. Chemical manufacturing consumes large amounts of energy and is responsible for a substantial portion of global carbon emissions. Against this backdrop, electrosynthesis, powered by renewable electricity, can replace many industrial thermochemical processes to generate fuels, chemicals, and fertilizers. Rather than focusing on areas that have received much attention in recent years (e.g. water electrolysis and CO2 reduction), we explored emerging areas within heterogeneous electrosynthesis for which there is a substantial need. In chapter 3, we highlight the importance of designing electrocatalysts with well defined active sites. We report the use of reticular chemistry to design a conductive metal organic framework-based electrocatalytic model system with molecular M-O4 active sites for electrochemical oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMFOR). The activity of MOFs bearing Ni-O4 (Ni-CAT) and Co-O4 (Co-CAT) active sites were analyzed with electrochemical and operando spectroscopic techniques to elucidate the reaction mechanism occurring on the surface. Electrochemical experiments reveal that Co-CAT has an earlier onset potential for enabling HMFOR, relative to most established catalysts, while the Ni-CAT shows faster kinetics for the conversion of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). We determined that Ni-CAT achieved FDCA (our target molecule) yields of 98.7% yield. The faradic efficiency can reach out to 86.8% faradic efficiency. Infrared spectroscopy points to HMF with a surface-bound aldehyde group as the key intermediate in the catalytic cycle, which forms once the M(II\III) oxidation occurs. This work illustrates the advantage of utilizing molecularly defined active sites coupled with operando spectroscopy to provide fundamental insights into a variety of electrosynthetic reactions and pave the way for future catalyst design. Following this project, we turned to the use of a hydrogen-selective membrane reactor to explore more new reaction and catalysts concepts. The key here was using a Pd foil as a material that reduced protons to *H at an aqueous compartment and transferred the hydrogen through to an organic compartment where it hydrogenated the reactant of choice. Using a membrane reactor, we could physically separate electrochemical hydrogen reduction and hydrogenation chemistry in a manner that circumvented the use of H2 gas as would otherwise be necessary. We choose a chemical that is industrially produced in excess, acetonitrile, as a starting point. The Pd membrane reactor is applied to fully hydrogenate the C≡N bond of acetonitrile. Successfully, we obtained ammonia and acetaldehyde as reaction products at a record onset potential of 0.4 V vs Ag/AgCl. Finally, by carefully designing a unique spectroelectrochemical cell, we were able to carry out infrared spectroscopic measurements to visualize the reaction process in Pd-membrane and consequently proposed a unique imine-hydrolysis reaction mechanism (Chapter 4). In Chapter 5, we choose to innovate in an emerging area: electrochemical C-N bond formation from small molecule reactants (e.g. CO2, NH3). The conventional electrochemical C-N bond formation mechanism is based on electrochemical CO2RR. In this chapter, we propose an orthogonal strategy to simultaneously activate CO2 and N-reactants by applying negative and positive potential pulses, respectively. Cu nanoparticles are used as a model catalyst, CO2 acts as the C-reactant, and NH3 acts as the N-reactant for C-N coupling. Under optimized conditions in which *NH2 coverage is maintained at steady state while Cu remains metallic, pulsed electrolysis increases both the rate of formation and the selectivity of the C-N products urea, formamide and acetamide by 3-20 times. By extending the scope to additional C- and N-reactants, as well as C-S coupling, this new approach further demonstrates its general value in electrosynthesis

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThis dissertation can be divided into three parts: (1) the study of delithiation process of Li-Mg alloy as anode for Li-ion batteries by both experiments and theoretical modeling, (2) the investigation of the feasibility to study Li spatial distribution

The joining development, metallurgical study and characterisation approach of brazed joints between tungsten and fusion related materials for divertor applications

The design of brazed joints between tungsten to other fusion related materials is a significant challenge in developing fusion reactors, largely due to the dissimilar physical metallurgy of the materials to be joined. Under extreme thermal loading and plasma irradiation conditions, selecting suitable materials is very restricted and poses a significant challenge to the design. The candidate brazing filler materials for fusion related materials are often unconventional and lack material data and design experience. The work presented in this thesis focuses on the design and fabrication of dissimilar brazed joints between tungsten and fusion relevant materials with novel gold-based fillers. Vacuum furnace brazed joints of tungsten-tungsten, tungsten-Eurofer 97, tungsten - copper and tungsten-SS316L are successfully joined with a novel gold-based Au80Cu19Fe filler. Metallurgical and interfacial studies have been carried out for each brazed joint to understand their microstructural properties, and nanoindentation testing was performed at the joints to generate mechanical properties of the brazed layers. Optimised brazing procedures for vacuum furnace brazing and induction brazing were developed to limit the defects within the brazed layers with an equivalent Au80Cu20 filler. The brazing developments showed that the gold-based fillers could be used to fabricate qualified brazed joint between tungsten and the dissimilar materials considered. The brazing process design has been used for the proof-of-concept study of divertor mock-up fabrications, and the findings have contributed to the limited test data on fusion relevant materials. Finally, due to the substantial procurement costs of the gold-based filler material and the inability to generate macro scale properties from the braze layer, the use of conventional Cu60Zn40 fillers allowed a casting and brazing process methodology to be developed to correlate the in situ mechanical properties within the brazed layer to the properties generated by macro-level mechanical testing. The findings showed that this methodology could be used for predicting the mechanical properties of the brazed layer by the cast and heat-treated macro-level filler metal specimens, which are applicable to brazed joints in a range of applications.The design of brazed joints between tungsten to other fusion related materials is a significant challenge in developing fusion reactors, largely due to the dissimilar physical metallurgy of the materials to be joined. Under extreme thermal loading and plasma irradiation conditions, selecting suitable materials is very restricted and poses a significant challenge to the design. The candidate brazing filler materials for fusion related materials are often unconventional and lack material data and design experience. The work presented in this thesis focuses on the design and fabrication of dissimilar brazed joints between tungsten and fusion relevant materials with novel gold-based fillers. Vacuum furnace brazed joints of tungsten-tungsten, tungsten-Eurofer 97, tungsten - copper and tungsten-SS316L are successfully joined with a novel gold-based Au80Cu19Fe filler. Metallurgical and interfacial studies have been carried out for each brazed joint to understand their microstructural properties, and nanoindentation testing was performed at the joints to generate mechanical properties of the brazed layers. Optimised brazing procedures for vacuum furnace brazing and induction brazing were developed to limit the defects within the brazed layers with an equivalent Au80Cu20 filler. The brazing developments showed that the gold-based fillers could be used to fabricate qualified brazed joint between tungsten and the dissimilar materials considered. The brazing process design has been used for the proof-of-concept study of divertor mock-up fabrications, and the findings have contributed to the limited test data on fusion relevant materials. Finally, due to the substantial procurement costs of the gold-based filler material and the inability to generate macro scale properties from the braze layer, the use of conventional Cu60Zn40 fillers allowed a casting and brazing process methodology to be developed to correlate the in situ mechanical properties within the brazed layer to the properties generated by macro-level mechanical testing. The findings showed that this methodology could be used for predicting the mechanical properties of the brazed layer by the cast and heat-treated macro-level filler metal specimens, which are applicable to brazed joints in a range of applications

Density Functional Theory Study on the Electrical Properties of α-CsPbX3 (X=I, Cl, Br)

All-inorganic perovskite solar cells have become more important in the commercialization of the photovoltaic devices. In this study the structural, electronic properties of inorganic metal halide cubic perovskites CsPbX3 (X = I, Br, Cl) for perovskite solar cells are simulated using first-principles Density Functional Theory (DFT). The newly adjusted parameters make the calculations more accurate. These compounds are semiconductors with direct band gap energy. Results suggest that the α-CsPbX3 (X=I, Cl, Br) have a wide bandgap adjustment range with potential application in solar cells and other optoelectronic energy devices. On the basis of the electronic properties, one can expect that the α-CsPbI3 would be a better used to perovskite solar cell. α -CsPbCl3 and α-CsPbBr3 better suitable for others photovoltaic device