Bifunctional Mn-doped CoSe_(2) nanonetworks electrode for hybrid alkali/acid electrolytic H_(2) generation and glycerol upgrading

Electrolytic water splitting,as a promising route to hydrogen(H_(2))production,is still confronted with the sluggish anodic oxygen evolution reaction(OER)and its less value-added O2 production.Herein,we report a bifunctional electrode fabricated by in situ growth of Mn-doped CoSe_(2)nanonetworks on carbon fiber cloth(Mn-CoSe_(2)/CFC),which shows attractive electrocatalytic properties toward glycerol oxidation reaction(GOR)in alkali and hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)in acid.A flow alkali/acid hybrid electrolytic cell(fA/A-hEC)was then developed by coupling anodic GOR with cathodic HER with the Mn-CoSe_(2)/CFC bifunctional electrode.Such fA/A-hEC enables a rather low voltage of 0.54 V to achieve 10 mA cm^(-2),and maintain long-term electrolysis stability over 300-h operation at 100 mA cm^(-2)with Faraday efficiencies of over 99%for H_(2)and 90%for formate production.The designed bifunctional electrode in such innovative fA/A-hEC device provides insightful guidance for coupling energy-efficient hydrogen production with biomass upgradation.

Model of Multi-Source Nanonetworks for the Detection of BRCA1 DNA Alterations Based on LSPR Phenomenon

In this paper, we present a multi-source nanonetwork model for biomedical diagnosis applications, based on the Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance by different shape gold nanoparticles (i.e., cylinder, cube, and rod). We present the process of multi-source emission, diffusion, and reception of nanoparticles, based on the ligand/receptor binding. Then, a multi-detection process of DNA alterations is accomplished when nanoparticles are captured at the receiver. The colloidal particles are selectively functionalized with specific splice junctions of gene sequences to reveal simultaneously different alteration that could be associated to an early disease condition. Particularly, full-wave simulations have been carried out for the multi-detection of alternative splice junctions of breast cancer susceptibility gene 1. The proposed application is verified through numerical results and expressed in terms of Extinction-Cross Section, in the case of synchronous and asynchronous nanoparticles detection. We show that the proposed approach is able to detect DNA alterations, based on a selective nanoparticle reception process.

Embedded Coded Relay System for Molecular Communications

With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic,the World Health Organization(WHO)has urged scientists and industrialists to exploremodern information and communication technology(ICT)as a means to reduce or even eliminate it.The World Health Organization recently reported that the virus may infect the organism through any organ in the living body,such as the respiratory,the immunity,the nervous,the digestive,or the cardiovascular system.Targeting the abovementioned goal,we envision an implanted nanosystem embedded in the intra living-body network.The main function of the nanosystem is either to perform diagnosis and mitigation of infectious diseases or to implement a targeted drug delivery system(i.e.,delivery of the therapeutic drug to the diseased tissue or targeted cell).The communication among the nanomachines is accomplished via communication-based molecular diffusion.The control/interconnection of the nanosystem is accomplished through the utilization of Internet of bio-nano things(IoBNT).The proposed nanosystem is designed to employ a coded relay nanomachine disciplined by the decode and forward(DF)principle to ensure reliable drug delivery to the targeted cell.Notably,both the sensitivity of the drug dose and the phenomenon of drug molecules loss before delivery to the target cell site in long-distance due to the molecules diffusion process are taken into account.In this paper,a coded relay NM with conventional coding techniques such as RS and Turbo codes is selected to achieve minimum bit error rate(BER)performance and high signal-to-noise ratio(SNR),while the detection process is based on maximum likelihood(ML)probability and minimum error probability(MEP).The performance analysis of the proposed scheme is evaluated in terms of channel capacity and bit error rate by varying system parameters such as relay position,number of released molecules,relay and receiver size.Analysis results are validated through simulation and demonstrate that the proposed scheme can significantly improve delivery performance of the desirable drugs in the molecular communication system.

Reliability Analysis of Molecular Communication Based on Drift Diffusion in Different Topologies

Molecular communication is a novel nanoscale communication method. It can use ions, biochemical molecules or other information carriers to transmit information. However, due to molecules are easily accumulated in the channel to produce strong internal symbol interference, the information transmission in the channel is vulnerable to a low reliability. Therefore, reliability has become an important research issue in the field of molecular communication. At present, the existing reliability model of molecular communication does not take into account the drift velocity of the medium. Nevertheless, in some scenarios, it is often necessary to consider the effect of the drift velocity of the medium on the reliability of molecular communication. In this paper, we introduce the drift velocity of the medium and propose a reliability model of molecular communication based on drift diffusion (MCD2) in different topologies. Furthermore, in the case of transmission failure, a retransmission mechanism is used to ensure reliable transmission of information. Finally, we also compare the reliability performance of molecular communication between reliability model of MCD2 and reliability model of molecular communication based on free diffusion. The simulation results indicate that the proposed reliability model is superior to the existing reliability model of molecular communication based on free diffusion in analyzing the reliability of MCD2.

Hybrid artificial neural networks and analytical model for prediction of optical constants and bandgap energy of 3D nanonetwork silicon structures

The aim of this study is to develop a reliable method to determine optical constants for 3D-nanonetwork Si thin films manufactured using a pulsed-laser ablation technique that can be applied to other materials synthesized by this tech-nique.An analytical method was introduced to calculate optical constants from reflectance and transmittance spectra.Optical band gaps for this novel material and other important insights on the physical properties were derived from the optical constants.The existing optimization methods described in the literature were found to be complex and prone to errors while determining optical constants of opaque materials where only reflectance data is available.A supervised Deep Learning Algorithm was developed to accurately predict optical constants from the reflectance spectrum alone.The hybrid method introduced in this study was proved to be effective with an accuracy of 95%.

3D nickel-cobalt diselenide nanonetwork for highly efficient oxygen evolution

Active, stable and low-cost oxygen evolution reaction(OER) catalyst for electrochemical water splitting is key to efficient energy conversion and storage. Here, we report a three-dimensional(3D) nanonetwork as noble-metal-free electrode consisting of nickel cobalt diselenide(NiCoSe_2) nanobrush arrays on Ni foam(NF) through the initial hydrothermal reaction and subsequent thermal selenization process. Introducing ammonium fluoride as surface controller, different NiCoSe_2 hierarchical architecture can be modulated from nanorods, nanobrush to nanosheets. The unique brush-like NiCoSe_2 possesses high surface area for mass transfer, rough surface with rich active sites, 3D nanostructure preventing the accumulation of O2 bubbles. Compared to NiCoSe_2 nanorods/NF, NiCoSe_2 nanosheets/NF and commercial Ru O2,NiCoSe_2 nanobrush/NF exhibits an enhanced OER performance in alkaline media to reach a low overpotential of 274 m V at the current density of 10 m A/cm2, small Tafel slope and a long-term stability. The developed 3D nanonetwork highlights the nanoscale engineering and offers a promising alternative to noble metal catalysts for electrochemical water oxidation.

Synthesis of novel hierarchical porous polymers with a nanowire-interconnected network structure from core-shell polymer nanoobjects

Design and fabrication of the micro/nanostructures of the network units is a critical issue for porous nanonetwork structured materials. Significant progress has been attained in construction of the network units with zero-dimensional spherical shapes.However, owing to the limitations of synthetic methods, construction of porous building blocks in one dimension featuring high aspect ratios for porous nanonetwork structured polymer(PNSP) remains largely unexplored. Here we present the successful design and preparation of PNSP with a novel type of one-dimensional network unit, i.e., microporous heterogeneous nanowire. Well-defined core-shell polymer nanoobjects prepared from a gelable block copolymer, poly(3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate)-block-polystyrene are employed as building blocks, and facilely transformed into PNSP via hypercrosslinking of polystyrene shell. The as-prepared PNSP exhibits unique three-dimensional hierarchical nanonetwork morphologies with large surface area. These findings could provide a new avenue for fabrication of unique well-defined PNSP, and thus generate valuable breakthroughs in many applications.