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1. Reactive uptake of N ₂ O ₅ by atmospheric aerosol is dominated by interfacial processes

   https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abd7716  

   Galib, Mirza; Limmer, David T. (February 2021, Science)

   Nitrogen oxides are removed from the troposphere through the reactive uptake of N₂O₅into aqueous aerosol. This process is thought to occur within the bulk of an aerosol, through solvation and subsequent hydrolysis. However, this perspective is difficult to reconcile with field measurements and cannot be verified directly because of the fast reaction kinetics of N₂O₅. Here, we use molecular simulations, including reactive potentials and importance sampling, to study the uptake of N₂O₅into an aqueous aerosol. Rather than being mediated by the bulk, uptake is dominated by interfacial processes due to facile hydrolysis at the liquid-vapor interface and competitive reevaporation. With this molecular information, we propose an alternative interfacial reactive uptake model consistent with existing experimental observations. 

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2. Enhancing magnetic pinning by BaZrO ₃ nanorods forming coherent interface by strain-directed Ca-doping in YBa ₂ Cu ₃ O _7−x nanocomposite films

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6668/ac1fd3  

   Ogunjimi, Victor; Sebastian, Mary Ann; Zhang, Di; Gautam, Bibek; Jian, Jie; Huang, Jijie; Zhang, Yifan; Haugan, Timothy; Wang, Haiyan; Wu, Judy (September 2021, Superconductor Science and Technology)

   Abstract BaZrO₃(BZO) one-dimensional artificial pinning centers (1D-APCs) aligned along thec-axis of the YBa₂Cu₃O₇(YBCO) have been adopted to enhance the magnetic vortex pinning in BZO/YBCO nanocomposite films. However, the pinning force densityF_pof the BZO 1D-APCs remains moderate at temperatures near 77 K. A hypothesis of the major limiting factor is the defective BZO 1D-APCs/YBCO interface as a direct consequence of the large interfacial strain originated from the BZO/YBCO lattice mismatch of ∼7.7%. Herein, we explore enlarging thec-axis of the YBCO dynamically to reduce the lattice mismatch and hence to prevent formation of the defective BZO 1D-APCs/YBCO interface. Specifically, thec-axis enlargement was achieved by partial replacement of Cu with Ca on the YBCO lattice using strain-directed Ca diffusion into YBCO from two Ca_0.3Y_0.7Ba₂Cu₃O_7−x(CaY-123) spacers of only 10 nm in thickness inserted into the 2 vol% BZO 1D-APC/YBCO nanocomposite thin films of ∼150 nm in total thickness. The achieved elongatedc-axis is attributed to the formation of stacking faults induced by Ca-replacement of Cu on YBCO lattice. The reduced BZO/YBCO lattice mismatch allows formation of a coherent BZO 1D-APC/YBCO interface with negligible defects. This leads to an enhancedF_pvalue up to 98 GN m⁻³at 65 K, which is 70% higher than that of the reference 2 vol% BZO 1D-APC/YBCO sample. Furthermore, the benefit of the enhanced pinning of the BZO 1D-APCs with a coherent interface with YBCO can be extended to a large angular range of the magnetic field orientation. This study reveals the significant effect of the BZO/YBCO interface on the pinning efficiency of BZO 1D-APCs and provides a promising approach to achieve a coherent interface in BZO/YBCO nanocomposite films. 

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3. Colloid Separation by CO ₂ -Induced Diffusiophoresis

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.9b03376  

   Shimokusu, Trevor J.; Maybruck, Vanessa G.; Ault, Jesse T.; Shin, Sangwoo (January 2020, Langmuir)
4. Novel Microstructures Produced by Flash Sintering LaPO ₄ /Al ₂ O ₃ Composites

   https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927619012765  

   Yang, Yingjie; Mecartney, Martha L (August 2019, Microscopy and Microanalysis)
5. Healing Se Vacancies in Bi ₂ Se ₃ by Ambient Gases

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c05175  

   Shirodkar, Sharmila N.; Stephen, Gregory M.; Hanbicki, Aubrey T.; Friedman, Adam L.; Dev, Pratibha (October 2022, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C)