The reaction of γ-alumina with tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) vapor at low temperatures selectively yields monomeric SiO(x) species on the alumina surface. These isolated (-AlO)3Si(OH) sites are characterized by PXRD, XPS, DRIFTS of adsorbed NH3, CO, and pyridine, and (29)Si and (27)Al DNP-enhanced solid-state NMR spectroscopy. The formation of isolated sites suggests that TEOS reacts preferentially at strong Lewis acid sites on the γ-Al2O3 surface, functionalizing the surface with "mild" Brønsted acid sites. For liquid-phase catalytic cyclohexanol dehydration, these SiO(x) sites exhibit up to 3.5-fold higher specific activity than the parent alumina with identical selectivity.

Critical illness in COVID-19 is an extreme and clinically homogeneous disease phenotype that we have previously shown1 to be highly efficient for discovery of genetic associations2. Despite the advanced stage of illness at presentation, we have shown that host genetics in patients who are critically ill with COVID-19 can identify immunomodulatory therapies with strong beneficial effects in this group3. Here we analyse 24,202 cases of COVID-19 with critical illness comprising a combination of microarray genotype and whole-genome sequencing data from cases of critical illness in the international GenOMICC (11,440 cases) study, combined with other studies recruiting hospitalized patients with a strong focus on severe and critical disease: ISARIC4C (676 cases) and the SCOURGE consortium (5,934 cases). To put these results in the context of existing work, we conduct a meta-analysis of the new GenOMICC genome-wide association study (GWAS) results with previously published data. We find 49 genome-wide significant associations, of which 16 have not been reported previously. To investigate the therapeutic implications of these findings, we infer the structural consequences of protein-coding variants, and combine our GWAS results with gene expression data using a monocyte transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) model, as well as gene and protein expression using Mendelian randomization. We identify potentially druggable targets in multiple systems, including inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

AlO X thin films deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) have previously been used to increase both stability and selectivity of supported palladium catalysts and are known to develop nanoscale porosity upon heating. Understanding the factors that affect ALD thin-film porosity enables future design of layered catalytic structures with tunable nanoscale features on industrially-relevant high-surface-area materials. In this study, porous and nonporous aluminum oxide supports with and without palladium nanoparticles were overcoated with thin films of 2–7 nm AlO X by ALD deposited at temperatures of 100, 200, and 300 °C. Hydroxyl loss and changes in surface chemistry were observed upon heating the films, and changes in surface area and pore volume of the annealed films were correlated to AlO X deposition temperature and the presence of Pd. Crystallization of the overcoat to γ-Al2O3 is shown to occur separately from hydroxyl loss and pore formation. A mechanistic understanding of pore formation in AlO X ALD films is obtained by reference to studies of the structural transformations accompanying the formation of transition aluminas from hydroxide precursors. Additionally, a direct and tunable correlation is established between pore development and the overall hydroxyl content of AlO X ALD coatings.

Single crystal SrTiO3 nanocuboids having primarily TiO2-(001) surfaces and nanododecahedra having primarily (110) surfaces were created by two separate hydrothermal synthesis processes. Pd nanoparticles grown on the two sets of STO nanopolyhedra by atomic layer deposition show different morphologies and CO oxidation performance. Transmission electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering show that 2–3 nm Pd nanoparticles with 3–5 nm interparticle distances decorate the STO surfaces. When the number of ALD cycles increases, the growth of the Pd nanoparticles is more significant in size on TiO2-(001)-STO surfaces, while that on (110)-STO surfaces is more predominant in number. High resolution electron microscopy images show that single crystal and multiply twinned Pd nanoparticles coexist on both types of the STO nanopolyhedra and exhibit different degrees of adhesion. The CO oxidation reaction, which was employed to determine the dependence of catalytic activity, showed that the Pd catalytic performance was dominated by the coverage of CO, which is more directly related to Pd nanoparticle size than to shape. CO turnover frequency analysis and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy show that regardless of the shape or degrees of wetting, larger Pd nanoparticles (∼3 nm) have lower catalytic activity due to high CO coverage on nanoparticle facets. Smaller nanoparticles (∼2 nm) have more edge and corner sites and exhibit 2–3 times higher TOF at 80 and 100 °C.

We employ SrTiO 3 nanocuboid single crystals with well-defined (001) surfaces that are synthesized to have either a TiO 2-or SrO-terminated surface to investigate the influence of surface termination on the morphology and the chemical property of supported metallic nanoparticles. Using such monodispersed STO nanocuboids allows for practical catalytic reaction studies as well as surface studies comparable to a single crystal model catalyst. Pd nanoparticles were grown by atomic layer deposition, which is able to control the effective coverage, chemical state, and the size of the Pd nanoparticles. The properties of Pd nanoparticles were examined by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy. The morphology and growth pattern for the Pd nanoparticles supported on the SrTiO 3 nanocuboids are shown to depend on the surface termination.