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Anton Popov

Publications and source records attributed to Anton Popov.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

QCell: Recombining and Aligning Cell Queries for Overlapping Instance Segmentation

Instance segmentation of overlapping cells in microscopy remains challenging due to semi-transparent structures that produce weak boundaries and mixed visual evidence in overlap regions. Existing methods address this through local regions of interest or shape priors but lack global reasoning across overlapping objects. We present QCell, a novel query-based model that de-overlaps cell instances in microscopy scenes. Our approach combines (i) an instance recombination module that decomposes and recombines query representations in latent space, enabling the model to reason about complete object structure under overlap, and (ii) a contrastive query alignment objective that combines distinctive instance feature learning and separation of overlapping cell queries. We additionally introduce a new Organoid dataset benchmark for overlapping cell segmentation. We show that QCell outperforms state-of-the-art methods across multiple benchmarks, achieving +2.2 AP and +2.7 AJI on ISBI2014. Code is available at https://github.com/SlavkoPrytula/QCell

cs.CV↗
arXiv2025

Laser-Synthesized Ligand-Free Cu Nanocatalysts in Electrochemical CO2 Reduction to Methane

Electrochemical CO2 reduction (eCO2R) represents a pivotal strategy for mitigating global carbon emissions while simultaneously converting renewable energy into storable chemical fuels. Copper-based catalysts have been extensively explored in this field due to their unique capability to catalyze multi-carbon products. However, the intrinsic complexity of eCO2R pathways on Cu surfaces often leads to mixed product distributions, posing a significant challenge for achieving high selectivity toward a single desired hydrocarbon. Herein, we report a breakthrough in methane selectivity using laser-synthesized, ligand-free Cu nanomaterials. Unlike conventional Cu catalysts that produce diverse products, these ligand-free nanoparticles exhibit unprecedented selectivity for methane (CH4) with a Faradaic efficiency (FE) exceeding 70% at superior overpotentials. The absence of surface ligands, a direct consequence of the ultrafast laser ablation synthesis, ensures abundant exposed active sites with tailored electronic and geometric configurations. We attribute the exceptional methane selectivity to the synergistic effects of active sites-rich surfaces and optimized *CO intermediate binding energetics, which favor the protonation pathway toward CH4 rather than C-C coupling. This work not only resolves the long-standing selectivity dilemma in Cu-catalyzed eCO2R but also establishes laser-synthesized ligand-free nanomaterials as a versatile platform for designing high-performance electrocatalysts.

physics.chem-ph↗
arXiv2024

Tunable Nanostructuring for van der Waals Materials

Van der Waals (vdW) materials are becoming increasingly popular in scientific and industrial applications because of their unique mixture of record electronic, optical, and mechanical properties. However, nanostructuring of vdW materials is still in its infancy and strongly depends on the specific vdW crystal. As a result, the universal self-assembled technology of vdW materials nanostructuring opens vast technological prospects. This work demonstrates an express and universal synthesis method of vdW nanoparticles with well-defined geometry using femtosecond laser ablation and fragmentation. The disarming simplicity of the technique allows us to create nanoparticles from over 50 vdW precursor materials covering transition metal chalcogenides, MXenes, and other vdW materials. Obtained nanoparticles manifest perfectly defined crystalline structures and diverse shapes, from nanospheres to nanocubes and nanotetrahedrons. Thus, our work provides a new paradigm for vdW nanostructuring with a vast potential of tunability for size, shape, and materials specific to the particular application.

physics.app-ph↗