arXiv subjects

Huafan Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Huafan Zhang.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

AI-guided high-throughput discovery of iridium- and ruthenium-free palladium-oxide catalysts for durable acidic oxygen evolution

Catalyzing acidic oxygen evolution at the proton-exchange-membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) anode relies almost entirely on iridium or ruthenium, drawn from concentrated supply chains that constrain gigawatt-scale deployment. We report an artificial intelligence (AI)-guided, human-supervised closed-loop platform (>90% automation) integrating combinatorial sputter synthesis, high-throughput screening, machine-learning composition-property models, adaptive multi-objective optimization, and context-aware large-language-model reasoning, where lead catalysts advanced to long-term validation in 1 M H2SO4 at 10 mA cm-2. Navigating a combinatorial metal oxide space, the platform iteratively evaluated the activity-stability trade-off of 2,942 catalysts across 53 material systems and 26 elements, surfacing Ir- and Ru-free complex oxides such as InMnPdOx and NiTaPdOx that conventional design logic, and off-the-shelf language models, would not predict. In retrospective benchmarking, our sequential learning agent advanced the activity-stability frontier faster than fixed-policy Bayesian optimization or in-context language-model selection. During long-term testing, NiTaPdOx operated at lower overpotential than PdOx, but both eventually exceeded 0.5 V: PdOx at ~200 h and NiTaPdOx at ~470 h. InMnPdOx showed a similar overpotential improvement in addition to a dramatic increase in operational stability, retaining overpotential below 0.5 V over 1,000 h of operation. The additive elements promote the formation of a nanostructure that is associated with catalytic activity while stabilizing Pd against corrosion. The results highlight the power of AI-driven science in addressing long-standing challenges in materials chemistry, and the greater availability of Pd relative to incumbent Ir and Ru offers a near-term option to ease supply constraints on scaled electrochemical H2 generation.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2026

Ghost imaging with zero photons

Ghost imaging was first demonstrated with entangled photon pairs and well-known for its peculiar properties. The signal beam that illuminates the object possesses no spatial resolution, whereas the reference beam, which never interacts with the object, is spatially resolved. Either beam alone cannot retrieve the image, which can only be obtained when the signal and reference beams are correlated. Here we will report a ghost imaging experiment with even more peculiar properties, in which the image can be reconstructed when no photon interacts with the object or even no photon in neither signal nor reference beam. All the photons interacted with the object are discarded. Only the time bins with zero photon are employed to retrieve the image, a process referred to as "ghost imaging with zero photons" hereafter. The reason why ghost image can be retrieved with zero photons is jointly determined by photon-number projection measurement and photon statistics of thermal light. The results are helpful to resolve the debate on the physics of ghost imaging and understand the relation between quantum and classical correlations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Protecting and Enhancing the Photoelectrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction to Ammonia Performance of InGaN Nanowires using Mo2C Nanosheets and GaN Buffer Layer

Photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) reduction of N2 to ammonia (NH3) is emerging as the potential alternative to overcome the standard Haber-Bosch approach. In this communication, solar N2 reduction was demonstrated with molybdenum carbide (Mo2C) co-catalyst assisted indium gallium nitride (InGaN) nanowires. The effect of aiding Mo2C on InGaN NWs arrests the dark current and demonstrated the saturation current under illumination was briefly elucidated. Large NH3 production of 7.2 gh-1cm-2 with high Faradaic efficiency of 12.6 % was realized at -0.2 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode for the Mo2C/GaN/InGaN heterostructure. Notably, the proposed heterostructure also exemplifies excellent stability and reproducibility with excellent selectivity in the long-term chronoamperometry analysis. Further, the incorporation of GaN buffer layer in between Mo2C and InGaN NWs was deeply investigated. From Density Functional Theory (DFT) analysis, the incorporation of GaN buffer layer aids the suitable band edge position for the transfer of photogenerated charge carrier from InGaN to Mo2C co-catalyst, and unique 3d orbital of Mo2C is highly suitable to hold N2 for effective reduction to NH3.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Graded nanocomposite metamaterials for a double-sided radiative cooling architecture with a record breaking cooling power density

As an emerging electricity-free cooling technology, radiative cooling employs outer space as the heat sink. With this, a sky-facing thermal emitter is usually required. Due to the black-body radiation limit at ambient temperature, the maximum cooling power density for a single-faced radiative cooling device is ~156.9 W/m2. Here we report a double-sided radiative cooling architecture using graded nanocomposite metamaterials (GNM) designed for a vertically aligned thermal emitter. This GNM structure possesses an optical absorption of over 90% throughout the solar spectrum, and exceeds 90% reflection in the mid-infrared spectral region. With this configuration, both sides of a planar thermal emitter can be used to perform radiative cooling and a record cooling power density beyond 280 W/m2 was realized in a single thin-film thermal emitter. Under the standard pressure, we realized a temperature reduction of 14 degree Celsius below the ambient temperature in the laboratory environment, and over 12 degree Celsius in the outdoor test.

physics.app-ph↗