The adsorption energy and electronic properties of sulfur dioxide (SO2) adsorbed on different low-Miller index cobalt phosphide (CoP) surfaces were examined using density functional theory (DFT).

Bipolar electrochemistry is used as an economical, single‐step, and scalable process for the oxidation of a wireless graphite substrate, and the subsequent electrophoretic deposition of graphene oxide thin film on a second wireless substrate. An all‐solid‐state symmetric double‐layer capacitor (EDLC) using binderless reduced graphene oxide electrodes exhibited outstanding reversibility and capacitance retention over 18000 cycles, as well as superior capacitive behavior at far‐from‐dc frequencies (for example 45 and 47 μ F cm-2 ), effective capacitances at 75 and 189 Hz, respectively (computed using a series resonance network with ideal inductors), compared to 55 μ F cm-2 at close‐to‐dc (computed from cyclic voltammetry at 10 mV s-1 ). This makes the device well‐suited for ac filtering applications. A one‐hour thermal treatment of the electrodes at 900 °C under vacuum increased the capacitance 13‐fold (719 μ F cm-2 ) at close‐to‐dc, which decreased to 185 and 150 μ F cm-2 as the frequency was increased to 37 and 106 Hz, respectively These properties make this device suitable for both reasonable dc energy storage and higher frequency applications.

The kinetics and energetic relaxation associated with collisions between fast and thermal atoms are of fundamental interest for escape and therefore also for the evolution of the Mars atmosphere. The total and differential cross-sections of fast O(3P) atom collisions with CO have been calculated from quantum mechanical calculations. The cross-sections are computed at collision energies from 0.4 to 5 eV in the center-of-mass frame relevant to the planetary science and astrophysics. All the three potential energy surfaces ( 3A′, 3A″ and 2 3A″ symmetry) of O(3P) + CO collisions separating to the atomic ground state have been included in calculations of cross-sections. The cross-sections are computed for all three isotopes of energetic O(3P) atoms collisions with CO. The isotope dependence of the cross-sections are compared. Our newly calculated data on the energy relaxation of O atoms and their isotopes with CO molecules will be very useful to improve the modeling of escape and energy transfer processes in the Mars’ upper atmosphere.

We have designed and demonstrated a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor compatible process for fabricating high capacitance micro-capacitors based on vertically grown silver nanowires on silicon substrates. Array of silver nanowires with high-aspect ratio were electrochemically grown in the pores of anodized aluminum oxide film, which was pre-formed through anodization of aluminum thin film deposited on titanium/silicon oxide/silicon substrates. High dielectric bismuth ferric oxide layer was electrodeposited to fill the gap between silver nanowires after anodized aluminum oxide film was removed. It was found that the micro-capacitor based on the silver nanowires/bismuth ferric oxide composite film possessed higher capacitance by approximately one order of magnitude from the COMSOL simulation results from the flat Ag thin-film capacitor and the silver nanowire capacitor.

<p>The Martian atmospheric gas loss may have played a role in transforming Mars from a warmer, water-containing planet into a cold and dry one. This loss is attributed to different phenomena, including photodissociation of H<sub>2</sub>O followed by Jeans escape and photochemical escape of hot O atoms.  It was proposed that collisions with hot (super-thermal) neutral atoms can eject light species from the atmosphere such as He [1], D[2], H<sub>2</sub> [3], and OH<sub> </sub>[4]. Here, collisions with super-thermal oxygen atoms are the most important because of its kinetic energy and abundance. Carbon monoxide (CO) has been used as a probe for studying the planet’s atmospheric composition and the dynamics involved [5]. In this study, we computed the elastic and inelastic integral and differential cross-sections for CO collisions with energetic O(<sup>3</sup>P) and its isotopes using a full coupled-channel quantum mechanical formalism at collision energies from 0.4 to 5 eV. The O+CO interactions were described using recently constructed potential energy surfaces of <sup>3</sup>A′, <sup>3</sup>A″, and 2<sup>3</sup>A″ symmetry [6], dissociating to the atomic ground state. The state-to-state, elastic, and inelastic cross-sections were calculated for individual surfaces as well as their statistical average [7]. We applied the new cross sections in a simple 1D column transport model to provide revised escape and energy transfer rates of O(<sup>3</sup>P) and its isotopes in thermal CO gas, at the conditions corresponding to the upper atmosphere of Mars, where CO is abundant.</p> <p>References:</p> <p>[1]       S. Bovino, P. Zhang, F. A. Gianturco, A. Dalgarno, and V. Kharchenko, “Energy transfer in O collisions with He isotopes and Helium escape from Mars,” <em>Geophys. Res. Lett.</em>, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 2–6, 2011, doi: 10.1029/2010GL045763.</p> <p>[2]       P. Zhang, V. Kharchenko, M. J. Jamieson, and A. Dalgarno, “Energy relaxation in collisions of hydrogen and deuterium with oxygen atoms,” <em>J. Geophys. Res. Sp. Phys.</em>, vol. 114, no. 7, pp. 1–14, 2009, doi: 10.1029/2009JA014055.</p> <p>[3]       M. Gacesa, P. Zhang, and V. Kharchenko, “Non-thermal escape of molecular hydrogen from Mars,” <em>Geophys. Res. Lett.</em>, vol. 39, no. 10, pp. 1–6, 2012, doi: 10.1029/2012GL050904.</p> <p>[4]       M. Gacesa, N. Lewkow, and V. Kharchenko, “Non-thermal production and escape of OH from the upper atmosphere of Mars,” <em>Icarus</em>, vol. 284, pp. 90–96, 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.icarus.2016.10.030.</p> <p>[5]       M. Zhang and D. Shi, “Transition properties of the X 1 Σ + , I 1 Σ − , A 1 Π , D 1 Δ , B 1 Σ + , and a 3 Π states of carbon monoxide,” <em>Comput. Theor. Chem.</em>, vol. 1202, no. May, p. 113302, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.comptc.2021.113302.</p> <p>[6]       R. L. Ja, G. M. Chaban, and M. Field, “Collisional Dissociation of CO : ab initio Potential Energy Surfaces and Quasiclassical Trajectory Rate Coe cients,” pp. 1–54, 2019.</p> <p>[7]       S. Chhabra, M. Gacesa, M. S. Khalil, A. Al Ghaferi, and N. El-kork, “A quantum-mechanical investigation of O(3P) + CO scattering cross sections at superthermal collision energies,” <em>Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc.</em>, no. October, 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac3057.</p> <p> </p>