There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

Hydrogen production for energy: An overview

We determined the size-dependent specific and mass activities of the oxygen reduction in HClO(4) solutions on the Pt particles in the range of 1-5 nm. The maximal mass activity at 2.2 nm is well explained based on density functional theory calculations performed on fully relaxed nanoparticles. The presence of the edge sites is the main reason for the low specific activity in nanoparticles due to very strong oxygen binding energies at these sites. Our results clearly demonstrate that the catalytic activity highly depends on the shape and size of the nanoparticles.

http://ma.ecsdl.org/content/MA2011-01/42/1931.full.pdf

Electrocatalysis on Platinum Nanoparticles: Particle Size Effect on Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity

Biogenic synthesis of nanoparticles: A review

The current application of nanotechnology in food and agriculture.

This critical review focuses on recent advances in the bio-inspired synthesis of metal nanomaterials (MNMs) using microorganisms, viruses, plants, proteins and DNA molecules as well as their applications in various fields. Prospects in the design of bio-inspired MNMs for novel applications are also discussed.

/pdf/bio-inspired-synthesis-of-metal-nanomaterials-and-2r46apppfe.pdf

Bio-inspired synthesis of metal nanomaterials and applications

Recent advances in palladium-based electrocatalysts for fuel cell reactions and hydrogen evolution reaction

Palladium modified gold nanoparticles as electrocatalysts for ethanol electrooxidation

Bio-Inspired Synthesis of Metal Nanomaterials and Applications

As a common nuclide in radioactive wastewater, uranium (U) is generally treated by landfill, which induces the massive abandonment of uranium resources. In this work, a pulse voltammetry method for the synthesis of U single atoms on MoS2 (U/MoS2 ) nanosheets from radioactive wastewater for the electrocatalytic alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is reported. The mass loading of U single atoms is facilely controlled with high selectivity for coexisting ions in radioactive wastewater. In the electrolyte of 1 m of KOH, U/MoS2 nanosheets with 5.2% of U single atoms exhibit relatively low overpotentials of 72 mV at 10 mA cm-2 . The mechanistic study reveals that the HER on U/MoS2 includes the water dissociation on U single atoms to form OH* and H transfer from OH* to adjacent S-edge atoms. This procedure exhibits decreased activation energy for transition state in water dissociation and optimized Gibbs free energy for H* adsorption.

Huimei Chen

Papers

Bio-inspired synthesis of metal nanomaterials and applications

Recent advances in palladium-based electrocatalysts for fuel cell reactions and hydrogen evolution reaction

Palladium modified gold nanoparticles as electrocatalysts for ethanol electrooxidation

Bio-Inspired Synthesis of Metal Nanomaterials and Applications

Synthesis of Uranium Single Atom from Radioactive Wastewater for Enhanced Water Dissociation and Hydrogen Evolution.