Effect of the self-assembled gel network formed from a low molecular mass organogelator on the electron kinetics in quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

A low molecular mass organogelator(LMOG),N,N’-1,5-pentanediylbis-dodecanamide, was applied to quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells(QS-DSSCs). The crosslinked gel network was self-assemblied by the LOMG in the liquid electrolyte, and the in situ assembly process of gelator can be obtained by the polarized optical microscopy(POM). On one hand, the network hinders the diffusion of redox species and accelerates the electron recombination at the interface of the TiO_2 photoanode/electrolyte. On the other hand, Li+ can interact with the amide carbonyl groups of the gelators and the adsorption of Li+ onto the TiO_2 surface decreases, leading to a negative shift of the TiO_2 conduction band edge, accelerated electron transport and decreased electron injection efficiency(η_(inj)) of QS-DSSC. As a result, the incidental photon-to-electron conversion efficiency(IPCE),the short circuit photocurrent density(J_(sc)) and the open circuit voltage(V_(oc)) of the QS-DSSC are decreased compared with those of the liquid electrolyte based DSSC(L-DSSC),which indicates that the electron recombination plays a great role in the photovoltaic performances of DSSC. Remarkably,the QS-DSSC exhibits excellent thermal and light-soaking stabilities during accelerated aging tests for 1000 h, which is attributed to a great intrinsic stability of the gel electrolyte with a high gel to solution transition temperature(T_(gel)=108°C).

The ORR electron transfer kinetics control via Co-N_(x) and graphitic N sites in cobalt single atom catalysts in alkaline and acidic media

Cost-effective 3d transition metal(TM) based single atom catalysts(SACs) for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) are potential alternatives for Pt-based electrocatalysts in fuel cells and metal-air batteries.Understanding the effects of SACs’ properties and active site composition on the catalytic performance is significant to construct highly efficient catalysts. Here, we successfully promote the activity of cobalt single atoms decorated on N-doped carbon nanosheets via tuning the content of different nitrogen components, which outperforms most reported cobalt SACs. The activity and kinetics show positive correlation trends with the content of Co-Nxand graphitic N, serving as the main active sites.Furthermore, ORR kinetics in alkaline media can be positively affected by the conductivity of catalysts while no similar relation is observed in acidic media. The slight loss of Co-Nxsites engenders a mild change of performance in alkaline media, while the decrease of Co-Nxsite activity due to chemical oxidation of carbon support and the loss of Co-Nxsites in acidic media exacerbate the degradation of performance. Our work provides an insight into the relation between ORR electron transfer kinetics and active sites in 3d TM based SACs.

Electron transfer kinetics in CdS/Pt heterojunction photocatalyst during water splitting

Noble metal cocatalysts have shown great potential in boosting the performance of CdS in photocatalytic water splitting.However,the mechanism and kinetics of electron transfer in noble-metal-decorated CdS during practical hydrogen evolution is not clearly elucidated.Herein,Pt-nanoparticle-decorated CdS nanorods(CdS/Pt)are utilized as the model system to analyze the electron transfer kinetics in CdS/Pt heterojunction.Through femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy,three dominating exciton quenching pathways are observed and assigned to the trapping of photogenerated electrons at shallow states,recombination of free electrons and trapped holes,and radiative recombination of locally photogenerated electron-hole pairs.The introduction of Pt cocatalyst can release the electrons trapped at the shallow states and construct an ultrafast electron transfer tunnel at the CdS/Pt interface.When CdS/Pt is dispersed in acetonitrile,the lifetime and rate for interfacial electron transfer are respectively calculated to be~5.5 ps and~3.5×10^(10) s^(−1).The CdS/Pt is again dispersed in water to simulate photocatalytic water splitting.The lifetime of the interfacial electron transfer decreases to~5.1 ps and the electron transfer rate increases to~4.9×10^(10) s^(−1),confirming that Pt nanoparticles serve as the main active sites of hydrogen evolution.This work reveals the role of Pt cocatalysts in enhancing the photocatalytic performance of CdS from the perspective of electron transfer kinetics.

Theoretical Analysis of the Kinetics Electron Transport at Solid/Solid Processes

The kinetics of electron transmission at solid/solid interface system are investigation and studied using a simple model that derives depending on the quantum consideration. A two quantum state for donor state ｜αn 〉 and acceptor state ｜αA 〉 are supposed. Marcus-Hush semi classical continuum levels theory adapted to evaluated the energies for orientation before transfer. The probability of transmission of electron is calculated to investigation the kinetics of transfer. Our result for calculation of rate constant of electron transfer shows a good agreement with experiment data.

Gyrokinetic simulations of the kinetic electron effects on the electrostatic instabilities on the ITER baseline scenario

The linear and nonlinear simulations are carried out using the gyrokinetic code NLT for the electrostatic instabilities in the core region of a deuterium plasma based on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor(ITER)baseline scenario.The kinetic electron effects on the linear frequency and nonlinear transport are studied by adopting the adiabatic electron model and the fully drift-kinetic electron model in the NLT code,respectively.The linear simulations focus on the dependence of linear frequency on the plasma parameters,such as the ion and electron temperature gradientsκ_(Ti,e)≡R=L_(Ti,e),the density gradientκ_(n)≡R/L_(n)and the ion-electron temperature ratioτ=T_(e)=T_(i).Here,is the major radius,and T_(e)and T_(i)denote the electron and ion temperatures,respectively.L_(A)=-(δ_(r)lnA)^(-1)is the gradient scale length,with denoting the density,the ion and electron temperatures,respectively.In the kinetic electron model,the ion temperature gradient(ITG)instability and the trapped electron mode(TEM)dominate in the small and large k_(θ)region,respectively,wherek_(θ)is the poloidal wavenumber.The TEMdominant region becomes wider by increasing(decreasing)κ_(T_(e))(κ_(T_(i)))or by decreasingκ_(n).For the nominal parameters of the ITER baseline scenario,the maximum growth rate of dominant ITG instability in the kinetic electron model is about three times larger than that in the adiabatic electron model.The normalized linear frequency depends on the value ofτ,rather than the value of T_(e)or T_(i),in both the adiabatic and kinetic electron models.The nonlinear simulation results show that the ion heat diffusivity in the kinetic electron model is quite a lot larger than that in the adiabatic electron model,the radial structure is finer and the time oscillation is more rapid.In addition,the magnitude of the fluctuated potential at the saturated stage peaks in the ITGdominated region,and contributions from the TEM(dominating in the higher k_(θ)region)to the nonlinear transport can be neglected.In the adiabatic electron model,the zonal radial electric field is found to be mainly driven by the turbulent energy flux,and the contribution of turbulent poloidal Reynolds stress is quite small due to the toroidal shielding effect.However,in the kinetic electron model,the turbulent energy flux is not strong enough to drive the zonal radial electric field in the nonlinear saturated stage.The kinetic electron effects on the mechanism of the turbulence-driven zonal radial electric field should be further investigated.

Simulation of the spatio-temporal evolution of the electron energy distribution function in a pulsed hollow-cathode discharge

This article presents the 2D simulation results of a nanosecond pulsed hollow cathode discharge obtained through a combination of fluid and kinetic models.The spatio-temporal evolution of the electron energy distribution function(EEDF)of the plasma column and electrical characteristics of the nanosecond pulsed hollow cathode discharge at a gas pressure of 5 Torr are studied.The results show that the discharge development starts with the formation of an ionization front at the anode surface.The ionization front splits into two parts in the cathode cavity while propagating along its lateral surfaces.The ionization front formation leads to an increase in the fast isotropic EEDF component at its front,as well as in the anisotropic EEDF component.The accelerated electrons enter the cathode cavity,which significantly contributes to the formation of the highenergy EEDF component and EEDF anisotropy.

CHRONOABSORPTOMETRY FOR THE DETERMINATION OF KINETIC PARAMETERS OF ELECTRON TRANSFER REACTIONS USING LONG-OPTICAL-PATH ELECTROCHEMICAL CELL

A single potential step chronoabsorptometric method for the determination of ki- netic parameters of simple quasi-reversible reactions is described.It is verified by determining the kinetic parameters for the electroreduction of ferricyanide.A long-optical-path electro- chemical cell with a plug-in electrode is used.The thickness of solution layer is 0.55 mm

Solitary kinetic Alfvén waves in a dense electron–positron–ion plasma with degenerate electrons and positrons

Through the use of a reductive perturbation technique, solitary kinetic Alfvén waves（KAWs） are investigated in a low but finite b（particle-to-magnetic pressure ratio） dense electron–positron–ion plasma where electrons and positrons are degenerate. The degenerate plasma model considered here permits the existence of sub-Alfvénic compressive solitary KAWs. The influence of r（equilibrium positron-to-ion density ratio）, sF（electron-to-positron Fermi temperature ratio）, b and obliqueness parameter lzon various characteristics of solitary KAWs are examined through numerical plots. We have shown that there exists a critical value of lzat which a soliton width attains its maximum value which decreases with an increase in r and sF.It is also found that solitons with a higher energy propagate more obliquely in the direction of an ambient magnetic field. The results of the present investigation may be useful for understanding low frequency nonlinear electromagnetic wave propagation in magnetized electron–positron–ion plasmas in dense stars. Specifically, the relevance of our investigation to a pulsar magnetosphere is emphasized.

Conductivity effects during the transition from collisionless to collisional regimes in cylindrical inductively coupled plasmas

A numerical model is developed to study the conductivity effects during the transition from collisionless to collisional regimes in cylindrical inductively coupled argon plasmas at pressures of 0.1-20 Pa.The model consists of electron kinetics module,electromagnetics module,and global model module.It allows for self-consistent description of non-local electron kinetics and collisionless electron heating in terms of the conductivity of homogeneous hot plasma.Simulation results for non-local conductivity case are compared with predictions for the assumption of local conductivity case.Electron densities and effective electron temperatures under non-local and local conductivities show obvious differences at relatively low pressures.As increasing pressure,the results under the two cases of conductivities tend to converge,which indicates the transition from collisionless to collisional regimes.At relatively low pressures the local negative power absorption is predicted by non-local conductivity case but not captured by local conductivity case.The two-dimensional(2D)profiles of electron current density and electric field are coincident for local conductivity case in the pressure range of interest,but it roughly holds true for non-local conductivity case at very high pressure.In addition,an effective conductivity with consideration of non-collisional stochastic heating effect is introduced.The effective conductivity almost reproduces the electron density and effective electron temperature for the non-local conductivity case,but does not capture the non-local relation between electron current and electric field as well as the local negative power absorption that is observed for nonlocal conductivity case at low pressures.

The Confirmation of Hypothesis of the Absolute Reference System

The purpose of the research in this article is the examination of the agreement of the hypothesis of the absolute reference system with the results of experiments that have been implemented in the past in order to confirm the special theory of relativity. To achieve this goal, we have chosen for discussing a theoretical topic of electromagnetism, that of electromagnetic mass calculation, and some experiments, some of which concern the transverse Doppler effect in a rotated system, two experiments that concern the kinetic energy measurement of accelerated electrons, one of which is the well known Bertozzis experiment, one experiment that concerns the propagation of Coulomb fields and one more experiment that concerns the effect of annihilation. The basic principles of the hypothesis of the absolute reference system, and the electromagnetic theory derived from these principles, are used to explain the experimental results. In these examples, the hypothesis of the absolute reference system is confirmed, since the experimental results agree with the predictions of this hypothesis. Also, in the discussion of calculation of electromagnetic mass is addressed the difficulty of solving this problem, when someone tries to solve this according to the energy-mass relation of the theory of relativity.

Filling Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x)nanosheets into melamine foam towards a highly compressible all-in-one supercapacitor

The development of compressible supercapacitors strongly relies on the design of electrode materials combining superior compressibility,high conductivity with the stable electrochemical cycling performance.In this work,we report a facile yet scalable strategy to construct a highly compressible supercapacitor by integrating the current collector,active materials and the separator into one device.We use the highly compressive melamine foam(MF)as scaffold and the Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x)nanosheets as the active materials.Filling the few-layer Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x)nanosheets into the skeleton of MF by capillary force followed by freeze-drying yields the MF/Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x)composite with superior structural integrity that can be compressed at a large strain of 50%for 100 cycles.The electrochemical performances of the all-in-one supercapacitor were systematically investigated under diverse compression strains.The improved conductivity and reduced ion diffusion length allow the all-in-one supercapacitor to exhibit fast ion and electron kinetics even at high strain of 60%,delivering a maximal volumetric specific energy of 0.37 mWh∙cm^(-3)at power density of 0.42 mW∙cm^(-3)and extraordinary cycling performance during the 2,500 compression cycles.