Boosting kinetic separation of ethylene and ethane on microporous materials via crystal size control

The adsorptive separation of C_(2)H_(4)and C_(2)H_(6),as an alternative to distillation units consuming high energy,is a promising yet challenging research.The great similarity in the molecular size of C_(2)H_(4)and C_(2)H_(6)brings challenges to the regulation of adsorbents to realize efficient dynamic separation.Herein,we reported the enhancement of the kinetic separation of C_(2)H_(4)/C_(2)H_(6)by controlling the crystal size of ZnAtzPO_(4)(Atz=3-amino-1,2,4-triazole)to amplify the diffusion difference of C_(2)H_(4)and C_(2)H_(6).Through adjusting the synthesis temperature,reactant concentration,and ligands/metal ions molar ratio,ZnAtzPO4 crystals with different sizes were obtained.Both single-component kinetic adsorption tests and binary-component dynamic breakthrough experiments confirmed the enhancement of the dynamic separation of C_(2)H_(4)/C_(2)H_(6)with the increase in the crystal size of ZnAtzPO_(4).The separation selectivity of C_(2)H_(4)/C_(2)H_(6)increased from 1.3 to 98.5 with the increase in the crystal size of ZnAtzPO_(4).This work demonstrated the role of morphology and size control of adsorbent crystals in the improvement of the C_(2)H_(4)/C_(2)H_(6)kinetic separation performance.

Momentum Spectroscopy for Multiple Ionization of Cold Rubidium in the Elliptically Polarized Laser Field

Employing recently developed magneto-optical trap recoil ion momentum spectroscopy(MOTRIMS)combined with cold atoms,strong laser pulse,and ultrafast technologies,we study momentum distributions of the multiply ionized cold rubidium(Rb)induced by the elliptically polarized laser pulses(35 fs,1.3×10^15 W/cm^2).The complete vector momenta of Rb^n+ions up to charge state n=4 are recorded with extremely high resolution(0.12 a.u.for Rb^+).Variations of characteristic multi-bands are displayed in momentum distributions because the ellipticity varies from the linear to circular polarization,are interpreted qualitatively with the classical overbarrier ionization model.Present momentum spectroscopy of cold heavy alkali atoms presents novel strong-field phenomena beyond the noble gases.

Enhanced light-matter interactions in dielectric nanostructures via machine-learning approach

A key concept underlying the specific functionalities of metasurfaces is the use of constituent components to shape the wavefront of the light on demand.Metasurfaces are versatile,novel platforms for manipulating the scattering,color,phase,or intensity of light.Currently,one of the typical approaches for designing a metasurface is to optimize one or two variables among a vast number of fixed parameters,such as various materials’properties and coupling effects,as well as the geometrical parameters.Ideally,this would require multidimensional space optimization through direct numerical simulations.Recently,an alternative,popular approach allows for reducing the computational cost significantly based on a deep-learning-assisted method.We utilize a deep-learning approach for obtaining high-quality factor(high-Q)resonances with desired characteristics,such as linewidth,amplitude,and spectral position.We exploit such high-Q resonances for enhancedlight–matter interaction in nonlinearoptical metasurfaces and optomechanical vibrations,simultaneously.We demonstrate that optimized metasurfaces achieve up to 400-fold enhancement of the third-harmonic generation;at the same time,they also contribute to 100-fold enhancement of the amplitude of optomechanical vibrations.This approach can be further used to realize structures with unconventional scattering responses.