Platinum-based alloy nanoparticles are the most attractive catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction at present,but an in-depth understanding of the relationship between their short-range structural information and catalytic performance is still lacking.Herein,we present a synthetic strategy that uses transition-metal oxide-assisted thermal diffusion.PtCo/C catalysts with localized tetragonal distortion were obtained by controlling the thermal diffusion process of transition-metal elements.This localized structural distortion induced a significant strain effect on the nanoparticle surface,which further shortened the length of the Pt-Pt bond,improved the electronic state of the Pt surface,and enhanced the performance of the catalyst.PtCo/C catalysts with special short-range structures achieved excellent mass activity(2.27 Amg_(Pt)^(-1))and specific activity(3.34 A cm^(-2)).In addition,the localized tetragonal distortion-induced surface compression of the Pt skin improved the stability of the catalyst.The mass activity decreased by only 13%after 30,000 cycles.Enhanced catalyst activity and excellent durability have also been demonstrated in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell configuration.This study provides valuable insights into the development of advanced Pt-based nanocatalysts and paves the way for reducing noble-metal loading and increasing the catalytic activity and catalyst stability.
The presence of high-density defects is rarely observed in bulk 3 mol%yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal(3Y-TZP)ceramics obtained through conventional pressureless sintering.In the present work,fine-grained dense 147 nm 3Y-TZP ceramics were prepared by pressureless sintering of commercial 0.25 wt%alumina-doped zirconia powders at 1300℃.A novel discovery was reported in which large amounts of defects were present in the grain interiors of the sample.The phenomenon was further examined using three types of powder samples,and the reasons for defect formation were investigated by microstructural characterization using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM)analysis and Rietveld refinement.The results confirmed the essential dependence of the defect formation on the alumina addition.The authors attributed the defect formation to the significant difference in ionic radii of the solvent and solute during the dissolution of alumina into the zirconia lattice.The sintering kinetics were proposed to be enhanced by the presence of substantial defects,which consequently favored the low-temperature sintering of the alumina-doped zirconia ceramics.
Yan XiongLian LuoYao ChengZhi LiuQi LiuWeimin WangWei Ji
Two-dimensional(2D)topological materials have recently garnered significant interest due to their profound physical properties and promising applications for future quantum nanoelectronics.Achieving various topological states within one type of materials is,however,seldom reported.Based on first-principles calculations and tightbinding models,we investigate topological electronic states in a novel family of 2D halogenated tetragonal stanene(T-SnX,X=F,Cl,Br,I).All the four monolayers are found to be unusual topological nodal-line semimetals(NLSs),protected by a glide mirror symmetry.When spin-orbit coupling(SOC)is turned on,T-SnF and TSnCl are still ascertained as topological NLSs due to the remaining band inversion,primarily composed of Sn pxy orbitals,while T-Sn Br and T-SnI become quantum spin Hall insulators.The phase transition is ascribed to moving up in energy of Sn s orbitals and increasing of SOC strengths.The topology origin in the materials is uniformly rationalized through elementary band representations.The robust and diverse topological states found in the 2D T-SnX monolayers position them as an excellent material platform for development of innovative topological electronics.
Quantum anomalous Hall(QAH) insulators have excellent properties driven by fancy topological physics, but their practical application is greatly hindered by the observed temperature of liquid nitrogen, and the QAH insulator with high Chern number is conducive to spintronic devices with lower energy consumption. Here, we find that monolayer Fe SIn is a good candidate for realizing the QAH phase;it exhibits a high magnetic transition temperature of 221 K and tunable C = ±2 with respect to magnetization orientation in the y–z plane. After the application of biaxial strain, the magnetic axis shifts from the x–y plane to the z direction, and the effect of the high C and ferromagnetic ground state on the stress is robust. Also, the effect of correlation U on C has been examined. These properties are rooted in the large size of the Fe atom that contributes to ferromagnetic kinetic exchange with neighboring Fe atoms. These findings demonstrate monolayer Fe SIn to be a major template for probing novel QAH devices at higher temperatures.