DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
  1. Search for the isospin-violating decays χ c J Λ Σ ¯ 0 + c . c . and η c Λ Σ ¯ 0 + c . c .

    Using a sample of ( 2712.4 ± 14.3 ) × 10 6     ψ ( 3686 ) events collected with the BESIII detector, we perform a search for the isospin-violating decays χ c J → Λ Σ ¯   0 + c . c . ( J = 0 , 1 , 2 ) and η c → Λ Σ ¯   0 + c . c . No significant signal for χ c J or η c is observed in the Λ Σ ¯   0 invariant mass distribution. The upper limits on the branching fractions at the 90% confidencemore » level are set to be B ( χ c 0 → Λ Σ ¯   0 + c . c . ) < 1.5 × 10 − 6 , B ( χ c 1 → Λ Σ ¯   0 + c . c . ) < 1.6 × 10 − 6 , B ( χ c 2 → Λ Σ ¯   0 + c . c . ) < 1.7 × 10 − 6 , and B ( η c → Λ Σ ¯   0 + c . c . ) < 6.2 × 10 − 5 for the first time.« less
  2. Stable Co-valorization of Carbon Dioxide and Methane via Dynamic Reconstruction of a Metal Oxide Solid Solution Catalyst

    Dry reforming of methane (DRM) is a process that converts two greenhouse gases (methane and carbon dioxide) into syngas, a mixture of H2 and CO, that can lead to a variety of value-added chemicals. Owing to its endothermic nature, high reaction temperatures up to 800 °C are typically required and the grand challenge lies in developing robust catalysts without sintering and coking-induced deactivation during the long-term on-stream operation. Towards this aim, herein, a robust complex oxide-supported NiCu alloy catalyst was generated in situ during DRM. By leveraging the configurational stability of a solid oxide solution precursor, tightly anchored NiCu bimetallicmore » nanoparticles were in situ exsoluted and acted as the active sites in DRM. The as-afforded catalyst exhibited stable performance for DRM due to the ability to repel coke off the surface as the reaction proceeds. Kinetic experiments along with top surface characterization detail the reconstruction behavior of the solid oxide solution under DRM reaction conditions. The fundamental insights from this work provide guidance on generating resistant and flexible catalysts via in situ active sites formation from easily synthesized metal oxide solid solutions.« less
  3. Electrochemically mediated disproportionation for selective formaldehyde upcycling in acid

    Formaldehyde (FA) electrolysis is attractive for paired production of value‑added chemicals. However, conventional electrolysis adopts alkaline electrolytes, which triggers FA self-disproportionation and severe feed loss. Here we introduce a sustainable and selective strategy for valorizing FA through electrochemically mediated disproportionation in acidic electrolytes. By leveraging a dual-electrode system consisting of a hydrophobic copper tetraminophthalocyanine layer (CuTAPc-layer) cathode and a Pt2Ru bimetallic anode, we efficiently convert FA into methanol and formic acid at high Faradaic efficiencies of 93.2% and 91.3%, respectively. Compared with alkaline FA oxidation, which can lose up to 76% FA and complicate downstream separation, the acidic system suppressesmore » side reactions to ensure high product purity. Mechanism studies reveal that the hydrophobic microenvironment of CuTAPc-layer suppresses hydrogen evolution, while the stronger oxophilicity of Pt2Ru enhances FA activation and lowers the key deprotonation barrier for FA oxidation. The integrated device demonstrates application potential in polyoxymethylene upgrading, delivering 374.2 mA at 4 V with ~90% single-pass conversion, establishing a scalable and eco-friendly electrochemical pathway for chemical upcycling.« less
  4. Highly Crystalline and Porous Borocarbonitrides as Metal-Free Catalysts for Boosted N-Heterocycle Dehydrogenation

    Safe and efficient hydrogen storage is pivotal for enabling a clean hydrogen economy. Liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) offer a practical solution, but their deployment is hindered by the lack of highly active and economical dehydrogenation catalysts. Here, we report a metal-free catalyst design that overcomes the long-standing trade-off between crystallinity and surface area in two-dimensional frameworks for highly efficient dehydrogenation of LOHCs. A flux-assisted reconstruction strategy transforms amorphous borocarbonitrides (AM-BCN) into highly crystalline, defect-rich BCN nanosheets (C-BCN) with large surface area and accessible porosity, as confirmed by complementary spectroscopic, x-ray, and neutron analyses. C-BCN catalyzes the acceptor-less dehydrogenation ofmore » aza-fused LOHCs with quantitative hydrogen release under mild conditions, outperforming AM-BCN and previously reported metal-free scaffolds. Mechanistic insights from x-ray, neutron scattering, and theoretical calculations identify open C-B-N and N-B-N defect motifs as the primary active sites. This work establishes a generalizable strategy to engineer crystalline, porous, defect-rich two-dimensional lattices and demonstrates a highly active metal-free platform for LOHC dehydrogenation with high-purity H2 generation.« less
  5. pH‐Mediated Strong Metal‐Support Interaction Construction Through Dynamic Fermi Level Tuning

    The metal–support interface is central to governing catalytic transformations. While strong metal–support interaction (SMSI) is an established strategy to tailor the morphology and electronic properties of supported metal catalysts, the role of interfacial charge redistribution in SMSI formation remains poorly understood and rarely leveraged. Here, in this study, we report a dual-stimuli approach that combines pH modulation with ultrasonication to mediate SMSI construction in aqueous solution through dynamic Fermi level tuning. By leveraging in situ pH-driven charge redistribution at the metal–support interface, we achieve controllable SMSI encapsulation of metal nanoparticles, as verified by electrochemical analysis, work function measurements, and x-ray-basedmore » techniques. The resulting catalysts exhibit tunable SMSI features and deliver enhanced activity and selectivity in hydrogenation reactions. This work establishes a facile strategy to modulate catalyst structure and electronic properties by exploiting Fermi level variation as a driving force, thereby advancing rational SMSI design and catalytic performance across diverse environments.« less
  6. The Global Spectra-Trait Initiative: A database of paired leaf spectroscopy and functional traits associated with leaf photosynthetic capacity

    Accurate assessment of leaf functional traits is crucial for a diverse range of applications from crop phenotyping to parameterizing global climate models. Leaf reflectance spectroscopy offers a promising avenue to advance ecological and agricultural research by complementing traditional, time-consuming gas exchange measurements. However, the development of robust hyperspectral models for predicting leaf photosynthetic capacity and associated traits from reflectance data has been hindered by limited data availability across species and environments. Here we introduce the Global Spectra-Trait Initiative (GSTI), a collaborative repository of paired leaf hyperspectral and gas exchange measurements from diverse ecosystems. The GSTI repository currently encompasses over 7500more » observations from 397 species and 41 sites gathered from 36 published and unpublished studies, thereby offering a key resource for developing and validating hyperspectral models of leaf photosynthetic capacity. The GSTI database is developed on GitHub (https://github.com/plantphys/gsti, last access: 4 January 2026) and published to ESS-DIVE https://doi.org/10.15485/2530733, Lamour et al., 2025). It includes gas exchange data, derived photosynthetic parameters, and key leaf traits often associated with traditional gas exchange measurements such as leaf mass per area and leaf elemental composition. By providing a standardized repository for data sharing and analysis, we present a critical step towards creating hyperspectral models for predicting photosynthetic traits and associated leaf traits for terrestrial plants.« less
  7. Correspondence between Color Glass Condensate and High-Twist Formalism

    The color glass condensate (CGC) effective theory and the collinear factorization at high twist (HT) are two well-known frameworks describing perturbative QCD multiple scatterings in nuclear media. It has long been recognized that these two formalisms have their own domain of validity in different kinematic regions. Taking direct photon production in proton-nucleus collisions as an example, we clarify for the first time the relation between CGC and HT at the level of a physical observable. We show that the CGC formalism beyond shock-wave approximation, and with the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal interference effect is consistent with the HT formalism in the transition regionmore » where they overlap. Such a unified picture paves the way for mapping out the phase diagram of parton density in nuclear medium from dilute to dense region.« less
  8. Flux Synthesis of Lattice‐Engineered Rutile Solid Solutions for Acidic Oxygen Evolution

    Developing efficient and stable electrocatalysts for the acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is vital for advancing proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) technologies. Here, in this study, we report a flux synthesis of nitrogen-doped Ti–Ru rutile-type solid-solution oxides (M-TiRu4) using molten NaNO3 as the flux medium. The flux medium promotes the low-temperature conversion of TiN to rutile TiO2, while in situ-formed RuO2 nanoparticles facilitate lattice templating and couple with interfacial ion migration, enabling the formation of homogeneous solid solutions with abundant lattice heterogeneity. Simultaneously, nitrogen atoms are stably incorporated into the lattice of solid solutions, inducing bandgap narrowing, which enhancesmore » electronic conductivity. The developed M-TiRu4 catalyst exhibits exceptional acidic OER performance, delivering a low overpotential of 194 mV at 10 mA cm−2, superior durability over 600 h, and a Ru mass activity 7.8 times that of commercial RuO2. At the device level, M-TiRu4 enables PEMWE operation at 1.64 V @ 2 A cm−2 and maintains stable performance at 500 mA cm−2 for 200 h with a minimal degradation rate of 20 µV h−1. This work demonstrates a robust approach for designing high-performance, durable acidic OER catalysts via synergistic lattice and electronic structure engineering, paving the way for next-generation water-splitting technologies.« less
  9. Mixed-state geometric phases of coherent and squeezed spin states

    Two mixed-state geometric phases, known as the Uhlmann phase and interferometric geometric phase (IGP), of spin coherent states (CSSs) and spin squeezed states (SSSs) are analyzed. Exact solutions and numerical results of selected examples are presented. For the 𝑗=3/2 CSS, the Uhlmann phase exhibits finite-temperature topological phase transitions characterized by abrupt jumps. The IGP for the same state similarly shows discontinuous jumps as the temperature varies. In the case of the 𝑗=1 one-axis SSS, both the Uhlmann phase and IGP display discrete finite-temperature jumps. By contrast, the 𝑗=1 two-axis SSS shows no such transitions because the Uhlmann phase and IGPmore » both vary smoothly with temperature. Here, we also briefly discuss potential realizations and simulations related to these phenomena in spin systems.« less
  10. Rapid data acquisition and machine learning-assisted composition design of functionally graded alloys via wire arc additive manufacturing

    Abstract The lack of high-quality datasets in materials science hinders artificial intelligence (AI)-driven alloy design. To address this challenge, wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) was employed to fabricate graded alloys, generating extensive data for machine learning (ML)-assisted property prediction. ML models were developed using high-throughput experiments, computational models, and genetic algorithm to optimize feature selection, successfully predicting hardness and porosity. The ML model demonstrated its efficacy by designing a gradient alloy with enhanced properties. However, scaling up revealed uncertainties in tensile property and porosity due to differences in size and thermal conditions between the designed alloy build and the gradientmore » print used to construct the ML model. This underscores the need for uncertainty quantification and process optimization in WAAM-driven alloy design. Our work advances AI-integrated additive manufacturing, offering a rapid approach to exploring process–structure–property relationships and accelerating materials development.« less
...

Search for:
All Records
Creator / Author
"Wang, Xin"

Refine by:
Article Type
Availability
Journal
Creator / Author
Publication Date
Research Organization