Far-red-emitting YAl3(BO3)4:Cr3+ phosphors with excellent thermal stability and high luminescent yield for plant growth LEDs

Phosphors-converted LEDs (pc-LEDs) are excellent artificial light sources for indoor plant cultivation, in which the far-red-emitting component (700−780 nm) plays an important role in regulating the photomorphogenesis of plants. Accordingly, highly efficient and thermally stable far-red-emitting phosphors are indispensable for developing high-performance plant cultivation pc-LEDs. Herein, far-red-emitting YAl₃(BO₃)₄:Cr³⁺ (YAB:Cr³⁺) phosphors were synthesized by solid-state reaction, and their photoluminescence characteristics, thermal quenching, quantum yield (QY), and application in pc-LEDs were systematically investigated. The YAB:Cr³⁺ phosphor has an intense broadband absorption to the blue light, simultaneously exhibiting the sharp-line ²E emission and the broadband ⁴ T₂ emission of Cr³⁺ with a QY of ~86.7%. The far-red broadband emissions of YAB:Cr³⁺ centered at ~735 nm show a high resemblance to the active-state (P_FR) absorption of plant phytochrome. Moreover, the YAB:Cr³⁺ phosphor shows the thermally enhanced luminescence at temperatures of 303−393 K and the near-zero thermal quenching up to 423 K. The anomalous thermal enhancement is attributed to the temperature-dependent repopulation between ²E and ⁴ T₂ states. Finally, a pc-LED device was fabricated with the YAB:Cr³⁺ phosphor and blue chip, exhibiting the light out power of ~50.6 mW and energy conversion efficiency of ~17.4% at 100 mA drive current, respectively. The exceptional PL features including suitable excitation/emission wavelengths, suppressed thermal quenching and high QY make YAB:Cr³⁺ phosphors very promising for applications in plant growth pc-LEDs.     

Digestive protection of probiotic Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus in Ricotta cheese by monoglyceride structured emulsions

This research aimed at studying the potential use of monoglyceride (MG) structured emulsions (MSEs) as delivery and protective systems for probiotic bacteria in Ricotta cheese. To this purpose, a low-fat commercial Ricotta cheese was added with MSEs formulated with milk, as water phase, and sunflower oil (MSE-SO) or anhydrous milk fat (MSE-AMF), as lipid phase. A commercial whole milk Ricotta cheese (W-RC) was considered as reference. A probiotic Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus strain was inoculated as free cells in W-RC or embedded into the MSEs and added to the low-fat Ricotta at the same reference fat content. After physico-chemical characterisation, L. rhamnosus viability and sample destructuring behaviour upon in vitro digestion were evaluated. At the end of in vitro digestion, both W-RC and sample containing MSE-SO were unable to protect cells. By contrast, sample with AMF ensured a sufficient probiotic viability, even after 14 days of storage at 4 °C. This result was attributed to system composition and structure. During the gastric phase, the presence of caseins and MG-AMF mixed structures induced the formation of clots, entrapping and protecting cells against the acidic pH of the stomach, as confirmed by confocal micrographs and particle size. During the intestinal phase, cell viability was guaranteed by the formation of mixed micelles promoted by MG. It was demonstrated that microbial cells located near MG structures where they found protection.     

Enhanced luminescence and energy transfer performance of double perovskite structure Gd2MgTiO6:Bi3+, Mn4+ phosphor for indoor plant growth LED lighting

Deep-red light emitting phosphors are widely used in LEDs for indoor plant growth because of the critical role played by red light in plant growth. The luminescence properties of deep-red phosphors are still not well understood at present. An energy transfer strategy is a common and effective method to improve luminescence properties. In principle, the energy transfer process may occur when the sensitizer's emission spectra overlap with the activator's excitation spectra. In this work, Bi³⁺ and Mn⁴⁺ were incorporated into the matrix of Gd₂MgTiO₆ as sensitisers and activators, respectively. Mn⁴⁺ ions tend to occupy the [TiO₆] octahedral site and the Bi³⁺ ions are expected to substituted in the site of Gd³⁺. The energy transfer process from Bi³⁺ to Mn⁴⁺ was realised and the photoluminescence (PL) intensity of Mn⁴⁺ increased with the doping content of Bi³⁺. Upon excitation at 375 nm, the PL intensity of Mn⁴⁺ increased to 116.4% when the doping concentration of Bi³⁺ reached 0.3%. Finally, the pc-LED devices were prepared by a Gd₂MgTiO₆:Bi³⁺, Mn⁴⁺ phosphor. The high red luminescence indicated that this phosphor has potential applications in indoor LED lighting.     

Impact of high-intensity ultrasound on physical properties and degree of oxidation of lipase modified menhaden oil with caprylic acid and/or stearic acid

The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of high-intensity ultrasound (HIU) on physical properties, degree of oxidation, and oxidative stability of structured lipids (SLs). Caprylic acid (C) and stearic acid (S) were incorporated into menhaden oil using Lipozyme® 435 lipase to obtain five samples: (1) LC 20 (menhaden oil with 20% of C), (2) LC 30 (menhaden oil with 30% C), (3) LS 20 (menhaden oil with 20% S), (4) LS 30 (menhaden oil with 30% S), and (5) Blend C (menhaden oil with 16.24% C and 13.04% S). Samples were crystallized for 90 min at the following temperatures: (1) LC 20 at 15.5°C, (2) LC 30 at 17.5°C, (3) LS 20 at 24°C, (4) LS 30 at 30°C, and (5) Blend C at 18.0°C, and HIU was applied at the onset of crystallization. Physical properties, degree of oxidation, and oxidative stability were evaluated in sonicated and nonsonicated samples. All SLs had statistically higher G′ after sonication. Sonicated LS 30, LC 30, and Blend C had a higher melting enthalpy than the nonsonicated ones, while enthalpy values in sonicated LS 20 and LC 20 samples were not statistically different than the nonsonicated ones. No significant difference between sonicated and nonsonicated samples was observed in peroxide values (1.2 ± 0.1 meq/kg, p > 0.05) and in the oxidative stability index (6.3 ± 0.2 h, p > 0.05). These results showed that HIU was effective at changing physical properties without affecting the oxidation of the samples.     

基于结构光的星箭对接环相对位姿测量方法

空间非合作目标位姿测量是空间在轨维护的前提。面向空间机械手对空间载体自动抓捕的应用需求，提出了基于结构光的空间非合作目标视觉测量方法。该方法以双套双线结构光测量装置作为测量传感器，以空间载体上普遍存在的星箭对接环作为抓捕目标。根据对接环的共同特点，选择直线特征和点特征相结合作为相对位姿的求解特征；基于直线特征求解圆环平面法向量，基于点特征求解圆环圆心坐标，进而得到机械手工具坐标系与对接环坐标系间的相对位姿关系；基于多重几何约束实现了不同光照条件下图像上目标直线的鲁棒识别。建立了演示验证实验系统，在大量演示实验的基础上，进行了实验结果分析。     

Extensive evaluation and classification of low-cost dust sensors in laboratory using a newly developed test method

An extensive evaluation of low-cost dust sensors was performed using an exponentially decaying particle concentration. A total of 264 sensors including 27 sensors with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and 237 sensors with laser lighting sources were tested. Those tested sensors were classified into 4 groups based on the deviation from the reference data obtained by a reference instrument. The response linearities of all the tested samples for PM₁, PM_2.5, and PM₁₀ were in excellent agreement with the reference instrument, except a few samples. For the measurements of PM₁ and PM_2.5, the lighting source, that is, LED or laser, did not show any significant difference in overall sensor performance. However, LED-based sensors did not perform well for PM₁₀ measurements. The 32, 24, and 16% of all the tested sensors for PM₁, PM_2.5, and PM₁₀ measurement, respectively, are in the category of Class 1 (reference instrument reading ± 20%) requirement. The performance of the low-cost dust sensors for PM₁₀ measurement was relatively less satisfactory.     

Durable,Sensitive, and Wide‐Range Wearable Pressure Sensors Based on Wavy‐Structured Flexible Conductive Composite Film

Flexible pressure sensors have potential applications in human motion monitoring and electronic skins. To satisfy the practical applications, pressure sensors with a high sensitivity, a low detection limit, a broad response range, and an excellent stability are highly needed. Here, a piezoresistive pressure sensor based on wavy‐structured single‐walled carbon nanotube/graphite flake/thermoplastic polyurethane (SWCNT/GF/TPU) composite film is fabricated by a prestretching process. Due to the random wavy structure, high conductivity, and good flexibility, the prepared sensor displays a low detection limit of 2 Pa, a wide sensing range of 0–60 kPa, and a high sensitivity of 5.49 kPa^?1 for 0–50 Pa. Furthermore, the sensor shows a remarkable repeatability of over 1.1 × 10⁴, 9.0 × 10³, and 2.0 × 10³ pressure loading/unloading cycles at 50 Pa, 500 Pa, and 30 kPa, respectively, and a fast responsibility of 100–150 ms of loading response time and 400–600 ms of relaxation time. Therefore, the pressure sensor is successfully adopted to monitor both the large‐scale human activities (e.g., walk and jump) and the small‐scale signals (e.g., wrist pulse). Furthermore, a sensor array is assembled to map the weight and shape of an object, indicating its various potential applications including human–machine interactions, human health monitoring, and other wearable electronics.     

舞台灯光对服饰视觉色感的影响研究

在舞台表演中,舞台灯光对人物服饰色彩的视觉体验有很大影响。文章基于光源、布料光谱信息和CIE-1931色度模型,模拟出计算面料色彩推测公式。并选取三种不同色调的LED光源作为舞台灯光,分别对七种面料进行色彩分析,发现深长春花蓝色、中蓝色面料在三种灯光下的色相变化不明显,与太阳光下呈现色彩接近;丁香紫色和兰花紫色面料与灯光色彩倾向一致;金黄色、橙红色和兰花紫色三种颜色在蓝光强烈情况下的色彩视认性更强。最后,结合舞台色彩的视认性和色彩的意象,为舞台服装设计与灯光设计在视觉色感的选择提供帮助。