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This review details methods used to activate Au and Ag clusters for catalysis and routes that have been effective in mitigating sintering.

The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiology of COVID-19 in Nigeria with a view of generating evidence to enhance planning and response strategies. A national surveillance dataset between 27 February and 6 June 2020 was retrospectively analysed, with confirmatory testing for COVID-19 done by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The primary outcomes were cumulative incidence (CI) and case fatality (CF). A total of 40 926 persons (67% of total 60 839) had complete records of RT-PCR test across 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory, 12 289 (30.0%) of whom were confirmed COVID-19 cases. Of those confirmed cases, 3467 (28.2%) had complete records of clinical outcome (alive or dead), 342 (9.9%) of which died. The overall CI and CF were 5.6 per 100 000 population and 2.8%, respectively. The highest proportion of COVID-19 cases and deaths were recorded in persons aged 31–40 years (25.5%) and 61–70 years (26.6%), respectively; and males accounted for a higher proportion of confirmed cases (65.8%) and deaths (79.0%). Sixty-six per cent of confirmed COVID-19 cases were asymptomatic at diagnosis. In conclusion, this paper has provided an insight into the early epidemiology of COVID-19 in Nigeria, which could be useful for contextualising public health planning.

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Atomically-precise silver clusters can be activated for styrene oxidation reactions using mild calcination conditions.

When comparing alloy catalysts with different degrees of ordering, it is important to maintain surface facets to understand the effect of different arrangements of surface atoms. This is even more important when both metals are involved in the reaction steps, which is the case of Pt 3 Sn for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). We have prepared 95 and 60% ordered Pt 3 Sn nanocubes with {100} facets for the MOR. We show that the Sn atoms in the 60% ordered Pt 3 Sn nanocubes can be electrochemically oxidized to Sn 4+ , whereas the Sn atoms in the 95% ordered Pt 3 Sn nanocubes are more resistant to oxidation. The Sn 4+ in the disordered catalysts makes them more active than the ordered catalysts. At low overpotentials, the electrochemically formed Sn 4+ in the 60% ordered Pt 3 Sn nanocubes bind OH, oxidizing the CO intermediate adsorbed on Pt more efficiently. At high overpotentials, Sn 4+ prevents the passivation of the Pt sites due to adsorption of OH. These effects lead to a 5.6 times higher activity of the 60% ordered nanocubes compared to the 95% ordered nanocubes. These results illustrate the importance in catalyst design of controlling the environment and especially the atoms neighboring Pt for intermetallic Pt−M electrocatalysts.

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