Phosphorus doping is an effective approach to tailor the surface chemistry of carbon materials. In this work, two-dimensional graphene, as a simplified model for all sp 2 hybrid carbon allotropes, is employed to explore the surface chemistry of P-doped carbon materials. Thermally reduced graphene oxide, with abundant residual oxygen functionalities, is doped by phosphorus heteroatoms through H 3 PO 4 activation, followed by passivation in an inert atmosphere. The structural evolution of the phosphorus species in the carbon lattice during the thermal treatment is systematically studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy with the assistance of first-principles calculations. The C 3 −PO configuration is identified as the most stable structure in the graphene lattice and plays a key role in stabilizing the electrochemical interface between the electrode and electrolyte. These features enable an electrode based on P-doped graphene to exhibit an enlarged potential window of 1.5 V in an aqueous electrolyte, a remarkable improved cycling stability, and an ultralow leak current. Therefore, this contribution provides insights for designing phosphorus-doped carbon materials toward electrocatalysis, energy-related applications, and so forth.
A forward-viewing resonant fiber-optic endoscope of a scanning speed appropriate for a high-speed Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) system was developed to enable real-time, three-dimensional endoscopic OCT imaging. A new method was explored to conveniently tune the scanning frequency of a resonant fiber-optic scanner, by properly selecting the fiber-optic cantilever length, partially changing the mechanical property of the cantilever, and adding a weight to the cantilever tip. Systematic analyses indicated the resonant scanning frequency can be tuned over two orders of magnitude spanning from ~10Hz to ~kHz. Such a flexible scanning frequency range makes it possible to set an appropriate scanning speed of the endoscope to match the different A-scan rates of a variety of FD-OCT systems. A 2.4-mm diameter, 62.5-Hz scanning endoscope appropriate to work with a 40-kHz swept-source OCT (SS-OCT) system was developed and demonstrated for 3D OCT imaging of biological tissues.
We developed a universal, real-time uniform K-space sampling (Rt-UKSS) method for high-speed swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT). An external clock uniform in K-space was generated. The clock was synchronized with the zero-crossing time of an interferometric calibration signal and used as triggers for a high-speed data acquisition system in a point-by-point fashion, hence enabling uniform data sampling in K-space. Different from the numerical calibration algorithm commonly used in an SS-OCT system, the method reported here does not require over-sampling, thus greatly reducing the demand for digitization, data processing and storage speed. The Rt-UKSS method is adaptive and applicable to a generic SS-OCT system of a wide range of A-scan rates without special adjustment. We successfully implemented the Rt-UKSS method in an SS-OCT system based on a Fourier-domain mode-locked laser (FDML) of a 40-kHz scanning rate. Real-time imaging of biological tissues using such a system was demonstrated with a measured axial resolution of 9.3 μm and detection sensitivity greater than 120dB.
We report new optics designs for an optical coherence tomography (OCT) balloon imaging catheter to achieve diffraction-limited high resolution at a large working distance and enable the correction of severe astigmatism in the catheter. The designs employed a 1 mm diameter gradient-index lens of a properly chosen pitch number and a glass rod spacer to fully utilize the available NA of the miniature optics. Astigmatism caused by the balloon tubing was analyzed, and a method based on a cylindrical reflector was proposed and demonstrated to compensate the astigmatism. A catheter based on the new designs was successfully developed with a measured diffraction-limited lateral resolution of ∼21 μm, a working distance of ∼ 11 –12 mm, and a round-shape beam profile. The performance of the OCT balloon catheter was demonstrated by 3D full-circumferential imaging of a swine esophagus in vivo along with a high-speed, Fourier-domain, mode-locked swept-source OCT system.
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