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The shift toward renewable energy sources plays a central role in the quest for a circular economy. In this context, methyl formate (MF) has garnered attention as a compelling hydrogen carrier and alternative fuel, because of its remarkable characteristics (energy density, ease of storage and transport, and low boiling point). In this study, DFT calculations supported by online electrochemical mass spectroscopy (OE-MS) were performed to investigate the MF electro-oxidation (MFEO) on Pt 3 Pd 3 Sn 2 (111). The DFT calculations provide insight into the role of Pt, Pd, and Sn atoms in MFEO. Pt and Pd together provide a preferred active site for initiating MFEO through the O-H bond scission, and Sn plays an essential role in the mitigation of CO through oxygenation or water activation. By comparing the reaction energies and activation barriers for all possible reactions in MFEO, the suggested path necessitates a minimum energy of 0.14 eV to initiate the MFEO. This value was supported by the experimental results, showing that the oxidation wave of MF starts at 0.15 V (70 °C). Density functional theory (DFT) results, supported by OE-MS, indicate that the hydrolysis of MF prior to MFEO is not preferred on Pt 3 Pd 3 Sn 2 (111) surfaces, although the formation of methanol is plausible via a CH 3 O intermediate. Among the three small organic molecules (SOMs) studied─MF, methanol, and formic acid─MF has the lowest activation energy for the initial bond breaking that starts the whole oxidation process (0.13 eV), compared to formic acid (0.45 eV) and methanol (0.61 eV); thus, MF is the preferred fuel on Pt 3 Pd 3 Sn 2 (111).

To date, dozens of pilot-scale microbial fuel cell (MFC) devices have been successfully developed worldwide for treating various types of wastewater. The availability and configurations of separators are determining factors for the economic feasibility, efficiency, sustainability, and operability of these devices. Thus, the concomitant advances between the separators and pilot-scale MFC configurations deserve further clarification. The analysis of separator configurations has shown that their evolution proceeds as follows: from ion-selective to ion-non-selective, from nonpermeable to permeable, and from abiotic to biotic. Meanwhile, their cost is decreasing and their availability is increasing. Notably, the novel MFCs configured with biotic separators are superior to those configured with abiotic separators in terms of wastewater treatment efficiency and capital cost. Herein, a highly comprehensive review of pilot-scale MFCs (>100 L) has been conducted, and we conclude that the intensive stack of the liquid cathode configuration is more advantageous when wastewater treatment is the highest priority. The use of permeable biotic separators ensures hydrodynamic continuity within the MFCs and simplifies reactor configuration and operation. In addition, a systemic comparison is conducted between pilot-scale MFC devices and conventional decentralized wastewater treatment processes. MFCs showed comparable cost, higher efficiency, long-term stability, and significant superiority in carbon emission reduction. The development of separators has greatly contributed to the availability and usability of MFCs, which will play an important role in various wastewater treatment scenarios in the future.

As a topological Dirac semimetal with controllable spin-orbit coupling and conductivity, PtSe 2 , a transition-metal dichalcogenide, is a promising material for several applications, from optoelectrics to sensors. However, its potential for spintronics applications has yet to be explored. In this work, we demonstrate that the PtSe 2 /Ni 80 Fe 20 heterostructure can generate large damping-like current-induced spin-orbit torques (SOT), despite the absence of spin-splitting in bulk PtSe 2 . The efficiency of charge-to-spin conversion is found to be -0.1 ± 0.02 nm -1 in PtSe 2 /Ni 80 Fe 20 , which is 3 times that of the control sample, Ni 80 Fe 20 /Pt. Our band structure calculations show that the SOT due to PtSe 2 arises from an unexpectedly large spin splitting in the interfacial region of PtSe 2 introduced by the proximity magnetic field of the Ni 80 Fe 20 layer. Our results open up the possibilities of using large-area PtSe 2 for energy-efficient nanoscale devices by utilizing proximity-induced SOT.

In this work, we report a novel multimetallic nanoparticle catalyst composed of Pt, Pd, and Pb and its electrochemical activity toward dimethyl ether (DME) oxidation in liquid electrolyte and polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Chemical dealloying of the catalyst with the lowest platinum-group metal (PGM) content, Pt 2 PdPb 2 /C, was conducted using HNO 3 to tune the catalyst activity. Comprehensive characterization of the chemical-dealloying-derived catalyst nanoparticles unambiguously showed that the acid treatment removed 50% Pb from the nanoparticles with an insignificant effect on the PGM metals and led to the formation of smaller-sized nanoparticles. Electrochemical studies showed that Pb dissolution led to structural changes in the original catalysts. Chemical-dealloying-derived catalyst nanoparticles made of multiple phases (Pt, Pt 3 Pb, PtPb) provided one of the highest PGM-normalized power densities of 118 mW mg PGM -1 in a single direct DME fuel cell operated at low anode catalyst loading (1 mg PGM cm -2 ) at 70 °C. A possible DME oxidation pathway for these multimetallic catalysts was proposed based on an online mass spectrometry study and the analysis of the reaction products.

Spin-to-charge conversion is an essential requirement for the implementation of spintronic devices. Recently, monolayers (MLs) of semiconducting transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted considerable interest for spin-to-charge conversion due to their high spin-orbit coupling and lack of inversion symmetry in their crystal structure. However, reports of direct measurement of spin-to-charge conversion at TMD-based interfaces are very much limited. Here, we report on the room-temperature observation of a large spin-to-charge conversion arising from the interface of Ni 80 Fe 20 (Py) and four distinct large-area (∼5 × 2 mm 2 ) ML TMDs, namely, MoS 2 , MoSe 2 , WS 2 , and WSe 2 . We show that both spin mixing conductance and the Rashba efficiency parameter (λ IREE ) scale with the spin-orbit coupling strength of the ML TMD layers. The λ IREE parameter is found to range between -0.54 and -0.76 nm for the four ML TMDs, demonstrating a large spin-to-charge conversion. Our findings reveal that the TMD/ferromagnet interface can be used for efficient generation and detection of spin current, opening new opportunities for novel spintronic devices.

The development of flexible, lightweight, and thin high-performance electromagnetic interference shielding materials is urgently needed for the protection of humans, the environment, and electronic devices against electromagnetic radiation. To achieve this, the spinel ferrite nanoparticles CoFe 2 O 4 (CZ1), Co 0.67 Zn 0.33 Fe 2 O 4 (CZ2), and Co 0.33 Zn 0.67 Fe 2 O 4 (CZ3) were prepared by the sonochemical synthesis method. Further, these prepared spinel ferrite nanoparticles and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) were embedded in a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) matrix. The maximum electromagnetic interference (EMI) total shielding effectiveness (SE T ) values in the frequency range 8.2-12.4 GHz of these nanocomposites with a thickness of only 0.8 mm were 48.3, 61.8, and 67.8 dB for CZ1-rGO-TPU, CZ2-rGO-TPU, and CZ3-rGO-TPU, respectively. The high-performance electromagnetic interference shielding characteristics of the CZ3-rGO-TPU nanocomposite stem from dipole and interfacial polarization, conduction loss, multiple scattering, eddy current effect, natural resonance, high attenuation constant, and impedance matching. The optimized CZ3-rGO-TPU nanocomposite can be a potential candidate as a lightweight, flexible, thin, and high-performance electromagnetic interference shielding material., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

A unique strategy for the attainment of a discotic nematic (N D ) mesophase is reported consisting of a central benzene core to which are attached two 4-alkylphenyl and two 4-pentylbiphenyl moieties diagonally via alkynyl linkers. The rotational nature and incompatibility of unequal phenylethynyl units led to the disruption of π-π interactions within cores that aids to the realization of N D phase and favors high solid-state emission. When used in OLEDs, compounds act as an efficient solid-state pure deep-blue emitter with Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE x , y ) coordinates of (0.16, 0.07).

In this work, nickel ferrite (NiFe 2 O 4 ) nanoparticles were synthesized by dextrin from corn-mediated sol-gel combustion method and were annealed at 600, 800, and 1000 °C. The structural and physical characteristics of prepared nanoparticles were studied in detail. The average crystallite size was 20.6, 34.5, and 68.6 nm for NiFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles annealed at 600 °C (NFD@600), 800 °C (NFD@800), and 1000 °C (NFD@1000), respectively. The electromagnetic interference shielding performance of prepared nanocomposites of NiFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles (NFD@600 or NFD@800 or NFD@1000) in polypropylene (PP) matrix engineered with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) have been investigated; the results indicated that the prepared nanocomposites consisted of smaller-sized nickel ferrite nanoparticles exhibited excellent electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding characteristics. The total EMI shielding effectiveness (SE T ) for the prepared nanocomposites have been noticed to be 45.56, 36.43, and 35.71 dB for NFD@600-rGO-PP, NFD@800-rGO-PP, and NFD@1000-rGO-PP nanocomposites, respectively, at the thickness of 2 mm in microwave X-band range (8.2-12.4 GHz). The evaluated values of specific EMI shielding effectiveness (SSE) were 38.81, 32.79, and 31.73 dB·cm 3 /g, and the absolute EMI shielding effectiveness (SSE/t) values were 388.1, 327.9, and 317.3 dB·cm 2 /g for NFD@600-rGO-PP, NFD@800-rGO-PP, and NFD@1000-rGO-PP, respectively. The prepared lightweight and flexible sheets can be considered useful nanocomposites against electromagnetic radiation pollution., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society.)

Three-dimensional nanocomposites exhibit unexpected mechanical and biological properties that are produced from two-dimensional graphene nanoplatelets and oxide materials. In the present study, various composites of microwave-synthesized nanohydroxyapatite (nHAp) and graphene nanoparticles (GNPs), (100 - x )HAp- x GNPs ( x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.5 wt %), were successfully synthesized using a scalable bottom-up approach, that is, a solid-state reaction method. The structural, morphological and mechanical properties were studied using various characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and universal testing machine (UTM). XRD studies revealed that the prepared composites have high-order crystallinity. Addition of GNPs into nHAp significantly improved the mechanical properties. Three-dimensional nanocomposite 99.5HAp-0.5GNPs exhibited exceptionally high mechanical properties, for example, a fracture toughness of ∼116 MJ/m 3 , Young's modulus of ∼98 GPa, and compressive strength of 96.04 MPa, which were noticed to be much greater than in the pure nHAp. The MTT assay and cell imaging behaviors were carried out on the gut tissues of Drosophila third instars larvae and on primary rat osteoblast cells for the sample 99.5HAp-0.5GNPs that have achieved the highest mechanical properties. The treatment with lower concentrations of 10 μg/mL on the gut tissues of Drosophila and 1 and 5 μg/mL of this composite sample showed favorable cell viability. Therefore, owing to the excellent porous nature, interconnected surface morphology, and mechanical and biological properties, the prepared composite sample 99.5HAp-0.5GNPs stood as a promising biomaterial for bone implant applications., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest.

The Bi 3+ /Yb 3+ -codoped gadolinium tungstate phosphor has been synthesized through a solid-state reaction method. The structural characterization reveals the crystalline nature of the phosphor. The Bi 3+ -doped phosphor emits visible radiation from the blue to red regions upon excitation with 330 and 355 nm. The addition of Yb 3+ to the Bi 3+ -doped phosphor reduces the emission intensity in the visible region and emits an intense near-infrared (NIR) photon centered at 976 nm through a quantum-cutting (QC) phenomenon. This is due to cooperative energy transfer (CET) from the 3 P 1 level of Bi 3+ to the 2 F 5/2 level of Yb 3+ . The presence of Li + ions in the Bi 3+ /Yb 3+ -codoped phosphor enhances the emission intensity in the NIR region up to by 3 times, whereas the emission intensity in the visible region is significantly reduced. The energy transfer (ET) from the Bi 3+ ions to the Yb 3+ ions is confirmed by lifetime measurements, and the lifetime for the 3 P 1 level of Bi 3+ decreases continuously with increasing Yb 3+ concentration. The ET efficiency (η ETE ) and corresponding QC efficiency (η QE ) are calculated and found to be 29% and 129%, respectively. The presence of Li + enhances the QC efficiency of the phosphor up to 43%. Thus, the Bi 3+ /Yb 3+ /Li + -codoped phosphor is a promising candidate to enhance the efficiency of a crystalline-silicon-based solar cell through spectral conversion.