MoS2 intrinsically show Pt-like hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. Pristine MoS2 displayed low HER activity, which was caused by low quantities of catalytic sites and unsatisfactory ...conductivity. Then, phase engineering and S vacancy were developed as effective strategies to elevate the intrinsic HER performance. Heterojunctions and dopants were successful strategies to improve HER performance significantly. A couple of state-of-the-art MoS2 catalysts showed HER performance comparable to Pt. Applying multiple strategies in the same electrocatalyst was the key to furnish Pt-like HER performance. In this review, we summarize the available strategies to fabricate superior MoS2 HER catalysts and tag the important works. We analyze the well-defined strategies for fabricating a superior MoS2 electrocatalyst, propose complementary strategies which could help meet practical requirements, and help people design highly efficient MoS2 electrocatalysts. We also provide a brief perspective on assembling practical electrochemical systems by high-performance MoS2 electrocatalysts, apply MoS2 in other important electrocatalysis reactions, and develop high-performance two-dimensional (2D) dichalcogenide HER catalysts not limited to MoS2. This review will help researchers to obtain a better understanding of development of superior MoS2 HER electrocatalysts, providing directions for next-generation catalyst development.
In this paper, shift-splitting preconditioners are studied for a special class of block three-by-three saddle point problems, which arise from many practical problems and are different from the ...traditional saddle point problems. It is proved that the block three-by-three saddle point matrix is positive stable and the corresponding shift-splitting stationary iteration method is unconditionally convergent, which leads to a nice clustering property of the eigenvalues of the shift-splitting preconditioned matrix. Numerical results show that the proposed shift-splitting preconditioners outperform much better than some existing block diagonal preconditioners studied recently.
•Entertainment, sociality, and information positively influence users’ attitudes.•Trust has a positive effect on WeChat users’ attitudes.•Increasing users’ trust will increase their willingness in ...making positive WOM.•Improving users’ attitudes will enhance their willingness in making positive WOM.
WeChat is a mobile instant text and voice messaging communication service and has become an important social media platform in China. The objectives of this article are to examine the effects of psychological motivations (entertainment, sociality, and information) and trust on WeChat users’ attitudes and to assess the influence of users’ attitudes and their trust on positive word-of-mouth. This study represents one of the few that empirically investigates WeChat users’ motives, attitudes, trust, and their associated behavior. The research model was tested using data randomly collected from the database of Sojump. The numbers of valid observations were 264. Structure equation modeling was employed to verify and validate the research model. The outcomes confirm the path effects showing that entertainment, sociality, information, and trust positively influence WeChat users’ attitudes and users’ trust and their attitudes significantly affect positive WOM. The research results provide insight into how WeChat can motivate users and build their trust to improve their attitudes which in turn will increase WeChat users’ willingness in making positive comments on products and services.
Bulk nanostructured (ns)/ultrafine-grained (UFG) metallic materials possess very high strength, making them attractive for high strength, lightweight and energy efficient applications. The most ...effective approach to produce bulk ns/UFG metallic materials is severe plastic deformation (SPD). In the last 30 years, significant research efforts have been made to explore SPD processing of materials, SPD-induced microstructural evolutions, and the resulting mechanical properties. There have been a few comprehensive reviews focusing mainly on SPD processing and the mechanical properties of the resulting materials. Yet no such a review on SPD-induced microstructural evolutions is available. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review on important microstructural evolutions and major microstructural features induced by SPD processing in single-phase metallic materials with face-centered cubic structures, body-centered cubic structures, and hexagonal close-packed structures, as well as in multi-phase alloys. The corresponding deformation mechanisms and structural evolutions during SPD processing are discussed, including dislocation slip, deformation twinning, phase transformation, grain refinement, grain growth, and the evolution of dislocation density. A brief review on the mechanical properties of SPD-processed materials is also provided to correlate the structure with mechanical properties of SPD-processed materials, which is important for guiding structural design for optimum mechanical properties of materials.
•A hybrid design using manifold arrangement and secondary channels for microchannel heat sink is proposed.•A Design Optimization Area (DOA) for the MMC-SOC is defined.•The pressure drop and thermal ...resistance can be both reduced in DOA.•The best hybrid design with geometrical parameters of (λ = 1, β = 1) is obtained.
The flow and heat transfer characteristics of a novel hybrid microchannel heat sink with manifold arrangement and secondary oblique channels (MMC-SOC) are numerically studied. Through the relationship between the total thermal resistance ratio (Rt/Rt0) and pressure drop ratio (ΔP/ΔP0), we define a region named Design Optimization Area (DOA), where the pressure drop ΔP and the total thermal resistance Rt can be both reduced due to the secondary channels. The numerical results show that the best heat sink can reduce ΔP by 1.91%, and simultaneously decrease Rt by 19.15% compared to the original MMC heat sink at Re = 295. In addition, the effects of secondary channel on ΔP are dependent on both the geometrical parameters and Reynolds numbers. On the one hand, it can reduce the pressure loss at small Reynolds numbers for most heat sinks. However, it can also increase the pressure loss at high Reynolds numbers for most heat sinks. As Re increases, the ratio (Rt/Rt0) becomes smaller and (ΔP/ΔP0) becomes larger, indicating a better thermal performance and a worse hydraulic performance. The secondary flow field analyses visually show the hydraulic and thermal performance enhancements due to thermal boundary layer re-development and flow mixing.
Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration (IDD) is a pathological process that commonly occurs throughout the human life span and is a major cause of lower back pain. Better elucidation of the molecular ...mechanisms involved in disc degeneration could provide a theoretical basis for the development of lumbar disc intervention strategies. In recent years, extracellular matrix (ECM) homeostasis has received much attention due to its relevance to the mechanical properties of IVDs. ECM proteolysis mediated by a variety of proteases is involved in the pathological process of disc degeneration. Here, we discuss in detail the relationship between the IVD as well as the ECM and the role of ECM proteolysis in the degenerative process of the IVD. Targeting ECM proteolysis-associated proteases may be an effective means of intervention in IDD.
•Heat dissipation issues at near-junction region of GaN HEMT are reviewed comprehensively.•Phonon transport properties in GaN and GaN nanostructures are discussed based on both computations and ...experiments.•Phonon transport tuning mechanisms in perspectives of particle, wave, and topological nature of phonons for GaN and GaN nanostructures are introduced.
The heat dissipation issue has now become one of the most important bottlenecks for power electronics due to the rapid increase in power density and working frequency. Towards the wide bandgap semiconductor GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), near-junction thermal management is the breakthrough that mainly includes the accurate thermal modeling and effective thermal design for GaN and GaN HEMTs. In this review, we first offer a comprehensive understanding of phonon thermal transport in GaN and GaN HEMTs, including non-equilibrium transport of electrons and phonons in the heat generation process, phonon thermal conductivity, heat spreading, and interfacial thermal transport. Then, we review the current tuning mechanisms and methods for thermal transport in GaN and GaN HEMTs which are classified into three categories according to the particle nature, wave nature, and topological nature of phonons. At last, we conclude by providing our perspectives on challenges and opportunities in the research of phonon thermal transport and its tuning mechanisms in GaN HEMTs.
•An efficient process consisting of co-extraction of transition metals has been developed.•The extraction mechanism of co-extraction of transition metals was explored by slope analysis.•The ...theoretical co-extraction results were simulated and compared with experiment results.•High-purity lithium carbonate has been recovered by precipitation.
When extracting metals from the leaching liquor of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the focus of traditional methods has been putting on the separation of transition metals, i.e. manganese, cobalt and nickel, which needs a long treatment process and causes significant loss of lithium. In this study, a simple and efficient process consisting of co-extraction of transition metals with neodecanoic acid (Versatic 10) and recovery of lithium by carbonate precipitation is developed. Firstly, the extraction mechanism of Versatic 10 is explored by slope analysis. And the results show that Versatic 10 has better selectivity to nickel and cobalt than to manganese, and it hardly extracts lithium. Then, practical experiments on solvent extraction conditions are carried out. The total extraction efficiencies of nickel, manganese and cobalt, after two stages of extraction, reach 99.18%, 97.05% and 98.47%, respectively. The experimental results are consistent with the theoretical analysis results. Finally, lithium is recovered by Na2CO3 precipitation. The purity of recovered lithium carbonate is high up to 99.61%. By using this process, the obtained solution of nickel, manganese and cobalt can be directly used to prepare ternary material precursor, and only 8% of lithium is lost.
ObjectiveTo investigate the influence of demographic and socioeconomic factors on the COVID-19 case-fatality rate (CFR) globally.DesignPublicly available register-based ecological study.SettingTwo ...hundred and nine countries/territories in the world.ParticipantsAggregated data including 10 445 656 confirmed COVID-19 cases.Primary and secondary outcome measuresCOVID-19 CFR and crude cause-specific death rate were calculated using country-level data from the Our World in Data website.ResultsThe average of country/territory-specific COVID-19 CFR is about 2%–3% worldwide and higher than previously reported at 0.7%–1.3%. A doubling in size of a population is associated with a 0.48% (95% CI 0.25% to 0.70%) increase in COVID-19 CFR, and a doubling in the proportion of female smokers is associated with a 0.55% (95% CI 0.09% to 1.02%) increase in COVID-19 CFR. The open testing policies are associated with a 2.23% (95% CI 0.21% to 4.25%) decrease in CFR. The strictness of anti-COVID-19 measures was not statistically significantly associated with CFR overall, but the higher Stringency Index was associated with higher CFR in higher-income countries with active testing policies (regression coefficient beta=0.14, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.27). Inverse associations were found between cardiovascular disease death rate and diabetes prevalence and CFR.ConclusionThe association between population size and COVID-19 CFR may imply the healthcare strain and lower treatment efficiency in countries with large populations. The observed association between smoking in women and COVID-19 CFR might be due to the finding that the proportion of female smokers reflected broadly the income level of a country. When testing is warranted and healthcare resources are sufficient, strict quarantine and/or lockdown measures might result in excess deaths in underprivileged populations. Spatial dependence and temporal trends in the data should be taken into account in global joint strategy and/or policy making against the COVID-19 pandemic.