Polyethylene (PE) is one of the most widely used materials in the world, but it is virtually undegradable and quickly accumulates in nature, which may contaminate the environment. We utilized the cobaltmediated radical copolymerization (CMRP) of ethylene and cyclic ketene acetals (CKAs) to effectively incorporate ester groups into PE backbone as cleavable structures to make PE-based copolymer degradable under mild conditions. The content of ethylene and ester units in the produced copolymer could be finely regulated by CKA concentration or ethylene pressure. Also, the copolymerization of ethylene and CKA with other functional vinyl monomers can produce functional and degradable PEbased copolymer. All the formed PE-based copolymers could degrade in the presence of trimethylamine (Et 3 N).
As a carbon‐neutral alternative technology to the Haber−Bosch process, electrochemical N2 reduction enables eco‐friendly NH3 synthesis under ambient conditions but requires electrocatalysts to drive the N2 reduction reaction (NRR). Here, P doping is proposed as a valid strategy to greatly increase the NRR activity of the V2O3/C shuttle‐like nanostructure. In 0.1 M Na2SO4, the NH3 yield of original V2O3/C is 12.6 μg h−1 mg−1cat. and a Faraday efficiency (FE) of 6.06% at −0.45 V and −0.25 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), respectively. P‐doped V2O3/C (P−V2O3/C), with a mass ratio of P of 6.05%, is capable of achieving a large NH3 yield of 22.4 μg h−1 mg−1cat. at −0.35 V vs. RHE, and a high FE of 13.78% at −0.25 V vs. RHE. It also shows high electrochemical durability and outstanding selectivity for NH3 formation. Combined with density functional theory calculations, the catalytic mechanism was further explored.
Hydrogen is well known to embrittle high-strength steels and impair their corrosion resistance. One of the most attractive methods to mitigate hydrogen embrittlement employs nanoprecipitates, which are widely used for strengthening, to trap and diffuse hydrogen from enriching at vulnerable locations within the materials. However, the atomic origin of hydrogen-trapping remains elusive, especially in incoherent nanoprecipitates. Here, by combining in-situ scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy and aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy, we unveil distinct scenarios of hydrogen-precipitate interaction in a high-strength low-alloyed martensitic steel. It is found that not all incoherent interfaces are trapping hydrogen; some may even exclude hydrogen. Atomic-scale structural and chemical features of the very interfaces suggest that carbon/sulfur vacancies on the precipitate surface and tensile strain fields in the nearby matrix likely determine the hydrogen-trapping characteristics of the interface. These findings provide fundamental insights that may lead to a better coupling of precipitation-strengthening strategy with hydrogen-insensitive designs.
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