Identification and comparison of the local physicochemical structures of transition metal-based layered double hydroxides for high performance electrochemical oxygen evolution reactions

Layered double hydroxides(LDHs) have attracted considerable attention as a cost effective alternative to the precious iridium-and ruthenium-based electrocatalysts for an oxygen evolution reaction(OER),a bottleneck of water electrolysis for sustainable hydrogen production.Despite their excellent OER performance,the structural and electronic properties of LDHs,particularly during the OER process,remain to be poorly understood.In this study,a series of LDH catalysts is investigated through in situ X-ray absorption fine structure analyses and density functional theory(DFT) calculations.Our experimental results reveal that the LDH catalyst with equal amounts of Ni and Fe(NF-LDH) exhibits the highest OER activity and catalytic life span when compared with its counterparts having equal amounts of Ni and Co(NC-LDH)and Ni only(Ni-LDH).The NF-LDH shows a markedly enhanced OER kinetics compared to the NC-LDH and the Ni-LDH,as proven by the lower overpotentials of 180,240,and 310 mV,respectively,and the Tafel slopes of 35.1,43.4,and 62.7 mV dec^(-1),respectively.The DFT calculations demonstrate that the lowest overpotential of the NF-LDH is associated with the active sites located at the edge planes of NF-LDH in contrast to those located at the basal planes of Ni-LDH and NC-LDH.The current study pinpoints the active sites on various LDHs and presents strategies for optimizing the OER performance of the LDH catalysts.

Monitoring damage evolution of steel strand using acoustic emission technique and rate process theory

Utilizing the acoustic emission(AE) technique, an experimental investigation into the damage evolution for steel strand under axial tension was described. The damage evolution model for steel stand relating the damage evolution to acoustic emission parameters was proposed by incorporating the AE rate process theory. The AE monitoring results indicate that damages occur in both elastic and plastic phases of steel strand. In elastic phase, AE signals are mainly sent out from the micro damage due to the surface friction among the wires of steel strand, while in plastic phase, AE signals emitted from the plastic deformation of wires. In addition, the AE cumulative parameters curves closely resemble the loading curve. The AE cumulative parameters curves can well describe the damage evolution process including the damage occurrence and damage development for steel strands. It is concluded that the AE technique is an effective and useful nondestructive technique for evaluating the damage characteristics of steel strand.

The Evolution of Theory of Mind in the Human Evolution

Despite almost half a century of research for theory of mind, its evolutionary origin is largely unknown. This paper proposes that the evolutionary origin of theory of mind starts from the beginning of the human evolution to form hominins through bipedalism and the mixed habitat. The feet of the early hominins were still adapted for grasping trees rather than walking for long distances and running fast on the ground. The early hominins lived in the mixed habitat of grassy woodland with patches of denser forest, and freshwater springs. The difficulty of walking in the mixed habitat leads to division of labor for the home specialist group (small children, old people, and mothers with small children, and pregnant women) in the safe forest area and the exploration specialist group (young people without the care of small children) in the dangerous open area. The different tasks, attitudes, and mentalities in different specialist groups produce theory of mind as the ability to attribute different mental states to different specialist groups. (Uniformity of mind instead of theory of mind is for generalists without division of labor). The early Homo species with the open habitat developed theory of mind for hunter specialist group and gatherer specialist group. The middle Homo species with complex stone tools developed theory of mind for the cooperative specialist groups in the large production of complex stone tools. The late Homo species with complex social interaction developed theory of mind for mind reading to enhance cooperation and to detect cheaters in complex social interaction. For religion, the unusually harsh Upper Paleolithic Period developed theory of mind for imaginary specialists in terms of supernatural power, guidance, and comfort. Therefore, the three general types of theory of mind are for specialists in division of labor, mind reading in complex social interaction, and imaginary specialists in imaginary division of labor under harsh conditions. Self-awareness in the mirror self-recognition test is also explained.

UNBALANCED SELF-ORGANIZATION THEORYAND CAUSES OF CRUSTOBODY EVOLUTION

It is generally cousidered that the mantle creep-flow eurtent is the most important internal cause for erustobody evolution. In fact, the Cause, mantle creep-now current takes place just beneath erustobody. Aeeording to the principle that internal causes of a tning determine its development and evolution, a special attetion should be paid to the basic causea of crustobody evolution. Vnder the guidance of the unbalanced self-organization theory, the authors elueidate that the crustobody system is a far-away thermal balaneed system and an open system, and thete are nonlinear interactions between the essentials, positive feedbacks and frequent fluetuation in the erustobody system. Finally, the following conelusions are drawn: the nonlinear interactions in the erustobody system are the basic formation (main internal cause) for erustobody evolution ; Substance and energy gained from surroundings are the basic conditions (main external cause) of crustobody evolution;and the fluctuations theide the erustobody system are the direct induetive cause of its evolution.

A Unifying Theory of Dark Energy, Dark Matter, and Baryonic Matter in the Positive-Negative Mass Universe Pair: Protogalaxy and Galaxy Evolutions

This paper modifies the Farnes’ unifying theory of dark energy and dark matter which are negative-mass, created continuously from the negative-mass universe in the positive-negative mass universe pair. The first modification explains that observed dark energy is 68.6%, greater than 50% for the symmetrical positive-negative mass universe pair. This paper starts with the proposed positive-negative-mass 11D universe pair (without kinetic energy) which is transformed into the positive-negative mass 10D universe pair and the external dual gravities as in the Randall-Sundrum model, resulting in the four equal and separate universes consisting of the positive-mass 10D universe, the positive-mass massive external gravity, the negative-mass 10D universe and the negative-mass massive external gravity. The positive-mass 10D universe is transformed into 4D universe (home universe) with kinetic energy through the inflation and the Big Bang to create positive-mass dark matter which is five times of positive-mass baryonic matter. The other three universes without kinetic energy oscillate between 10D and 10D through 4D, resulting in the hidden universes when D > 4 and dark energy when D = 4, which is created continuously to our 4D home universe with the maximum dark energy = 3/4 = 75%. In the second modification to explain dark matter in the CMB, dark matter initially is not repulsive. The condensed baryonic gas at the critical surface density induces dark matter repulsive force to transform dark matter in the region into repulsive dark matter repulsing one another. The calculated percentages of dark energy, dark matter, and baryonic matter are 68.6 (as an input from the observation), 26 and 5.2, respectively, in agreement with observed 68.6, 26.5 and 4.9, respectively, and dark energy started in 4.33 billion years ago in agreement with the observed 4.71 ± 0.98 billion years ago. In conclusion, the modified Farnes’ unifying theory reinterprets the Farnes’ equations, and is a unifying theory of dark energy, dark matter, and baryonic matter in the positive-negative mass universe pair. The unifying theory explains protogalaxy and galaxy evolutions in agreement with the observations.

Design of high-performance ion-doped CoP systems for hydrogen evolution:From multi-level screening calculations to experiment

Rational design of high-performance electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)is vital for future renewable energy systems.The incorporation of foreign metal ions into catalysts can be an effective approach to optimize its performance.However,there is a lack of systematic theoretical studies to reveal the quantitative relationships at the electronic level.Here,we develop a multi-level screening methodology to search for highly stable and active dopants for CoP catalysts.The density functional theory(DFT)calculations and symbolic regression(SR)were performed to investigate the relationship between the adsorption free energy(ΔG_(H^(*)))and 10 electronic parameters.The mathematic formulas derived from SR indicate that the difference of work function(ΔΦ)between doped metal and the acceptor plays the most important role in regulatingΔG_(H^(*)),followed by the d-band center(d-BC)of doped system.The descriptor of HER can be expressed asΔG_(H^(*))=1.59×√|0.188ΔΦ+d BC+0.120|1/2-0.166 with a high determination coefficient(R^(2)=0.807).Consistent with the theoretical prediction,experimental results show that the Al-CoP delivers superior electrocatalytic HER activity with a low overpotential of75 m V to drive a current density of 10 mA cm^(-2),while the overpotentials for undoped CoP,Mo-CoP,and V-CoP are 206,134,and 83 m V,respectively.The current work proves that theΔΦis the most significant regulatory parameter ofΔG_(H^(*))for ion-doped electrocatalysts.This finding can drive the discovery of high-performance ion-doped electrocatalysts,which is crucial for electrocatalytic water splitting.

The action mechanisms and structures designs of F-containing functional materials for high performance oxygen electrocatalysis

Non-renewable fossil fuels have led to serious problems such as global warming,environmental pollution,etc.Oxygen electrocatalysis including oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)and oxygen evolution reaction(OER)plays a central role in clean energy conversion,enabling a number of sustainable processes for future air battery technologies.Fluorine,as the most electronegative element(4.0)not only can induce more efficient regulation for the electronic structure,but also can bring more abundant defects and other novel effects in materials selection and preparation for favorable catalysis with respect to the other nonmetal elements.However,an individual and comprehensive overview of fluorine-containing functional materials for oxygen electrocatalysis field is still blank.Therefore,it is very meaningful to review the recent progresses of fluorine-containing oxygen electrocatalysts.In this review,we first systematically summarize the controllable preparation methods and their possible development directions based on fluorine-containing materials from four preparation methods.Due to the strong electron-withdrawing properties of fluorine,its control of the electronic structure can effectively enhance the oxygen electrocatalytic activity of the materials.In addition,the catalytic enhancement effect of fluorine on carbonbased materials also includes the prevent oxidation and the layer peeling,and realizes the precise atomic control.And the catalytic improvement mechanism of fluorine containing metal-based compounds also includes the hydration of metal site,the crystal transformation,and the oxygen vacancy induction.Then,based on their various dimensions(0D–3D),we also have summarized the advantages of different morphologies on oxygen electrocatalytic performances.Finally,the prospects and possible future researching direction of F-containing oxygen electrocatalysts are presented(e.g.,novel pathways,advanced methods for measurement and simulation,field assistance and multi-functions).The review is considered valuable and helpful in exploring the novel designs and mechanism analyses of advanced fluorine-containing electrocatalysts.

Hydrogen evolution reaction between small-sized Zr_(n)(n=2–5)clusters and water based on density functional theory

Density functional theory(DFT)is used to calculate the most stable structures of Zr_(n)(n=2-5)clusters as well as the adsorption energy values of Zr_(n)(n=2-5)clusters after adsorbing single water molecule.The results reveal that there is a significant linear relationship between the adsorption energy values and the energy gaps of the Zr_(n)(n=2-5)clusters.Furthermore,the calculations of the reaction paths between Zr_(n)(n=2-5)and single water molecule show that water molecule can react with Zr_(n)(n=2-5)clusters to dissociate,producing hydrogen,and O atoms mix with the clusters to generate Zr_(n)O(n=2-5),all of which are exothermic reactions.According to the released energy,the Zr4 cluster is the most efficient in Zr_(n)(n=2-5)clusters reacting with single water molecule.The natural population analysis(NPA)and density of states(DOS)demonstrate the production of hydrogen and orbital properties in different energy ranges,respectively,jointly forecasting that Zr_(n)O(n=2-5)will probably continue to react with more water molecules.Our findings contribute to better understanding of Zr's chemical reactivity,which can conduce to the development of effective Zr-based catalysts and hydrogen-production methods.

Unveiling the promotion of accelerated water dissociation kinetics on the hydrogen evolution catalysis of NiMoO_(4) nanorods

Nickel molybdate(NiMoO_(4))attracts superior hydrogen desorption behavior but noticeably poor for efficiently driving the hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)in alkaline media due to the sluggish water dissociation step.Herein,we successfully accelerate the water dissociation kinetics of NiMoO_(4)for prominent HER catalytic properties via simultaneous in situ interfacial engineering with molybdenum dioxide(MoO_(2))and doping with phosphorus(P).The as-synthesized P-doped NiMoO_(4)/MoO_(2)heterostructure nanorods exhibit outstanding HER performance with an extraordinary low overpotential of-23 m V at a current density of 10 m A cm^(-2),which is highly comparable to the performance of the state-of-art Pt/C coated on nickel foam(NF)catalyst.The density functional theory(DFT)analysis reveals the enhanced performance is attributed to the formation of MoO_(2)during the in situ epitaxial growth that substantially reduces the energy barrier of the Volmer pathway,and the introduction of P that provides efficient hydrogen desorption of Ni MoO_(2).This present work creates valuable insight into the utilization of interfacial and doping systems for hydrogen evolution catalysis and beyond.

New Perspective for the Philosophy of Religion: New Era Theory, Religion and Science

In this article,author expressed the meaning of“belief”,possible effective factors in human life,and how these factors can be effective on person and/or communities.With this respect,the meaning of religion,the possible interaction and relation between religion and science evaluated.42 past/present theories of religion and evaluation of the past/present works of the 87 philosophers of religion are explained.Author considered new synthesis(R-Synthesis),and also new era philosophy,new and re-constructed branches of philosophy,and some systems/constructions to express the new perspective for philosophy of religion.Author applied 27(+)possible definitive/certain result cases of the synthesis for R-Religion discipline specifically,and did the followings under new perspective:(i)eliminated some religious subjects,(ii)unified some religious subjects,(iii)modified some religious subjects,(iv)united some religious subjects in upper phase,(v)separated some religious subject,(vi)defined all religious subjects under one framework,(vii)integrated all religious subjects,(viii)defined new religious subjects,(ix)re-defined some religious subjects,(x)removed some religious subjects and put new religious subjects instead,(xi)added some religious subjects,(xii)kept/protected some religious subjects,(xiii)proposed progression for religious subjects,(xiv)changed the priority of some religious subjects,(xv)increased the importance of some religious subjects,(xvi)strengthened the ethics,(xvii)integrated philosophy branches under one framework,(xviii)others.Some of the purposes of this article are:(i)to define new synthesis method,(ii)to define good and/or correct new perspective and structure for philosophy of religion,science of religion,theories of religion,and related subjects,(iii)to extend the definition/limits of philosophy of religion with new perspective,(iv)others.As result of the synthesis,new perspective for philosophy of religion explained by considering the following concepts/sections:(a)theories of religion,(b)17 upper constructional philosophies and philosophy of religion,(c)eight complementary branches of philosophy of religion,(d)14 lower constructional philosophies and philosophy of religion,(e)science of religion,(f)new theory of religion and its relations with other disciplines.Author defined New Era Theory,New Era Religion,New Era Belief,Progressive Religion and their relations with other religions,beliefs,religious/non-religious movements,and the relation with other theories of religion.Also,power authorities and functional position levels in the New Era Belief,and Religion of God,Knowledge of God/gods,Nature of God/gods concepts are explained generally/specifically.

Theoretical investigation of loading Ni clusters on the α-Ga_2O_3 surfaces for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

In the semiconductor-based photocatalysts for overall water splitting, loading proper cocatalysts play a crucial role in enhancing the photocatalytic activity. In this work, we have chosen Ni_n/α-Ga_2O_3 as a model and provided detailed density functional theory calculations to investigate the function of cocatalysts in hydrogen evolution reaction(HER). We have studied the formation and stability of Ni_n(n = 1–4) cluster on two stable surfaces of α-Ga_2O_3(001) and(012). In a Ni_n/α-Ga_2O_3 system, as the Ni 3d states well overlap with O and Ga states, the excited electrons transferred from Ga to Ni may participate in HER. We theoretically predict that introduction of Nincluster on(012) surface can elevate the Fermi level toward the conduction band, which is favorable for the occurrence of HER. Electrochemical computations are used to explore the mechanism of HER. It is found that, in most of Ni_n/α-Ga_2O_3 systems, the active sites of HER are on Ni_n clusters. Loading Ni_n clusters not only importantly reduces the Gibbs free energy of HER but also improves the reaction activity of surface O and Ga sites in HER. Our calculations reasonably explain the experimental observation on significant enhancement of activity for generating hydrogen after loading nickel oxide cocatalysts.

Fractal Evolving Theory and Growing Model of Olefin Polymerization Process

The surface morphology of Ti-Mg supported catalyst and the polyethylene particles are studied using scanning electron microscope(SEM) technology.The results show that either the catalyst's surface or polymer particle's surface is irregular and has fractal characteristics,which can be described by fractal parameter.The more interesting discovery is that the surface fractal dimension values of the polymer particles vary periodically with the polymerization time.We call this phenomenon fractal evolution,which can be divided into the 'revolution' stage and the 'evolution' stage,And then we present polymerization fractal growing model(PFGM),and successfully describe and /or predict the whole evolving process of the polyethylene particle morphology under the different slurry polymerization(including pre-polymerization) conditions without H2.

The Mental Origins and the Evolution of Political Order

The paper proposes that the four-component structure of political order consists of state, imagination, rule, and accountability whose mental origins are the social brain, theory of mind, the rational brain, and the empirical brain, respectively. The rational brain and the empirical brain are from the thinking brain. This paper posits that in the evolution of political order, the main function of political order is to pacify changed social structure derived from technological revolution. Therefore, the four technological revolutions (the Upper Paleolithic, Agricultural-Bronze, Iron, and Industrial Revolutions) produce the four changed social structures (linked bands, tribe, mega empire, and modern nation, respectively) whose internal conflicts are pacified by the four political revolutions (the imaginative, hierarchical, thinking, bottom-up political revolutions, respectively) to form the four politics (the imaginative egalitarianism, decentralized hierarchical tribalism, centralized top-down thinking, and multilateral bottom-up thinking politics, respectively). In the competitive West originated from Greece and Middle East, the rule of law is the rational rule of competition among competitors, and the accountability of election is the empirical accountability of competition among competitors. In the cooperative East originated from India and China, the rule of relation is the rational rule of cooperation among kin-friends, and the accountability of professional qualification is the empirical accountability of cooperation among kin-friends. For political order, the two viable politics are competitive liberal democracy based on liberty and cooperative well-off democracy (well-off socialism) based on wellbeing. The direction of political order is middle democracy between liberal democracy and well-off democracy based on the multilateral bottom-up thinking politics.

Novel method for discerning the action of selection during evolution

A common problem in molecular comparative geno- mics is the identification of genes that are under positive, adaptive selection [1]. Such genes are likely to be crucial for speciation, species differentiation, and func- tional specialization. However, discerning the difference between positive selection and relaxation of func- tional constraint can be difficult using current methods. Both processes generally increase the rate of ami- no acid change relative to synonymous changes within coding regions, and unless the amino acid rate is over- whelmingly high across an entire gene, the signature of positive selection can be obscured [2]. Some methodologies do not explicitly determine the difference be- tween a relaxation of functional constraint and positive selection, leaving researchers to determine via other means whether the trajectory of a gene has been specialization or creation of a new function, or removal from the genome via a process of degeneration.

"universe collapse model"and its roles in the unification of four fundamental forces and the origin and the evolution of the universe

To unify the four known fundamental forces and provide an explanation for the origin and the evolution of the universe are two long-term goals of theoretical physics. Here a “universe collapse model” has been proposed. The universe consists of Matter and No-matter. No-matter is the universal energy that constructs a consistent universe field, presenting a spiral wave motion at the speed of light at the small scale. The partial collapse of the universal energy forms the particles of the universal energy in a variety of sizes, which are called as the elementary particles. These elementary particles form atom and matter, which construct the galaxies. The collapse of the universe field induces the formation of the universe collapse potential (UCP) and universe collapse force (UCF), and the later is represented by four different aspects of the fundamental forces at the large or small scales. The mathematical equation and the derivation of UCP and UCF are described, and possible experimental tests are also suggested. Therefore, this new model may give a novel explanation for the unification of four fundamental forces and the origin and the evolution of the universe.

Disclosing the active integration structure and robustness of a pseudo-tri-component electrocatalyst toward alkaline hydrogen evolution

Designing multicomponent integration catalysts(MICs)has been a promising strategy for improving electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)due to the highly active interfaces as well as electronic synergy.Nevertheless,many fundamental questions such as their actual active species and the influence on long-term stability remain to be answered.Herein,we present the structural evolution from a pseudotri-component electrocatalyst of nitrogen-doped carbon supported nickel/vanadium nitride/vanadium oxide(Ni-VN-V_(2)O_(3)/NC)nanorods to the heterostructural nickel/vanadium nitride(Ni-VN/NC)nanosheets during chemical or electrochemical processes.The self-reconstructed Ni-VN/NC exhibits a robust stability under alkaline conditions,while maintaining initial efficient HER activity with a low overpotential of 76 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm^(-2).Theoretical calculations and quasi-in-situ spectroscopic technology unveil the redistribution of electrons on the synergistic active interface,which synchronously optimizes the affinities for hydrogen,hydroxide,and water molecules,thereby remarkably accelerating the HER kinetics by reducing the barrier of Volmer step.

Early-Universe and Evolution of the Present Universe: Exact Solution Models

The evolution of the Robertson-Walker type universes consisting of radiating perfect fluid distribution coupled with zero-mass scalar field in which the gravitational parameter G varies with cosmic time t are studied. Unified descriptions of the early evolution of the universe consisting of different phases are investigated. The different properties of the cosmological solutions are discussed and the physical behaviour of the model universes during the radiation-dominated era and also during the big bang scenario are studied. Here we obtain models which are geometrically closed and are thereby ever expanding and evolve from rest from a non-singular hot origin with maximum (finite) energy density and temperature and a small minimum (non-zero) gravitational coupling G.