Spectroscopic properties and thermally stable orange-red luminescence of Sm:Zr:LiNbO3 and Sm:Hf:LiNbO3 for white LED applications

LiNbO₃ crystals activated by Sm³⁺ and co-doped with Zr⁴⁺ (Sm:Zr:LN) or Hf⁴⁺ (Sm:Hf:LN) were prepared by the Czochralski method. Detailed investigation on spectroscopic properties was conducted on the frame of Judd-Ofelt (J-O) theory. The J-O intensity parameters Ω_i (i = 2, 4, 6), fluorescence branching ratios and radiative lifetime of excited level ⁴G_5/2 were determined. Furthermore, the thermal stability of the strong orange-red emissions obtained under near-UV excitation in both crystals was evaluated. As high as 100% and 97% of integrated intensities at room temperature in Sm:Zr:LN and Sm:Hf:LN respectively were retained at 423 K, demonstrating the suppressed thermal attenuation. The temperature sensing performance based on fluorescence intensity ratio strategy was degraded at higher temperatures with relatively low sensitivities, while the shift of CIE chromaticity coordinates of Sm:Zr:LN and Sm:Hf:LN in the orange-red region was insignificant, demonstrating the color constancy with increasing temperature. With the efficient and thermally stable orange-red luminescence, Sm:Zr:LN and Sm:Hf:LN could serve as promising candidate materials for near-UV excited white light-emitting diodes.     

Highly oriented α-Al2O3 transparent ceramics shaped by shear force

Alumina platelets were arranged horizontally in submicron alumina particles by shear force in the flow of slurries during casting. The obtained alumina green bodies with platelets were pressureless-sintered in vacuum, producing ceramics with thoroughly oriented grains and high transmittance. The effects of sintering parameters on the densification, microstructure evolution, and orientation degree of alumina ceramics were investigated and discussed. The results showed that the densification, grain size, orientation degree, and in-line transmittance were increased with increasing sintering temperature. The enhancement of orientation degree was mainly coherent with grain growth. The grain-oriented samples exhibited a much higher in-line transmittance (at 600 nm) of 61 % than that of the grain random sample (29 %). Moreover, the transmission remained a high level in the ultraviolet range (<300 nm).     

Colossal dielectric response and relaxation behavior in novel system of Zr4+ and Nb5+ co-substituted CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramics

In this work, we developed a novel system of isovalent Zr⁴⁺ and donor Nb⁵⁺ co-doped CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ (CCTO) ceramics to enhance dielectric response. The influences of Zr⁴⁺ and Nb⁵⁺ co-substituting on the colossal dielectric response and relaxation behavior of the CCTO ceramics fabricated by a conventional solid-phase synthesis method were investigated methodically. Co-doping of Zr⁴⁺ and Nb⁵⁺ ions leads to a significant reduction in grain size for the CCTO ceramics sintered at 1060 °C for 10 h. XRD and Raman results of the CaCu₃Ti_3.8-xZr_xNb_0.2O₁₂ (CCTZNO) ceramics show a cubic perovskite structure with space group Im-3. The first principle calculation result exhibits a better thermodynamic stability of the CCTO structure co-doped with Zr⁴⁺ and Nb⁵⁺ ions than that of single-doped with Zr⁴⁺ or Nb⁵⁺ ion. Interestingly, the CCTZNO ceramics exhibit greatly improved dielectric constant (~10⁵) at a frequency range of 10²–10⁵ Hz and at a temperature range of 20–210 °C, indicating a giant dielectric response within broader frequency and temperature ranges. The dielectric properties of CCTZNO ceramics were analyzed from the viewpoints of defect-dipole effect and internal barrier layer capacitance (IBLC) model. Accordingly, the immensely enhanced dielectric response is primarily ascribed to the complex defect dipoles associated with oxygen vacancies by co-doping Zr⁴⁺ and Nb⁵⁺ ions into CCTO structure. In addition, the obvious dielectric relaxation behavior has been found in CCTZNO ceramics, and the relaxation process in middle frequency regions is attributed to the grain boundary response confirmed by complex impedance spectroscopy and electric modulus.     

Engineering Bioactive M2 Macrophage-Polarized Anti-Inflammatory,Antioxidant, and Antibacterial Scaffolds for Rapid Angiogenesis and Diabetic Wound Repair

Diabetic wound healing still faces great challenges due to the excessive inflammation, easy infection, and impaired angiogenesis in wound beds. The immunoregulation of macrophages polarization toward M2 phenotype that facilitates the transition from inflammation to proliferation phase has been proved to be an effective way to improve diabetic wound healing. Herein, an M2 phenotype-enabled anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial conductive hydrogel scaffolds (GDFE) for producing rapid angiogenesis and diabetic wound repair are reported. The GDFE scaffolds are fabricated facilely through the dynamic crosslinking between polypeptide and polydopamine and graphene oxide. The GDFE scaffolds possess thermosensitivity, self-healing behavior, injectability, broad-spectrum antibacterial activity, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory ability, and electronic conductivity. GDFE effectively activates the polarization of macrophages toward M2 phenotype and significantly promotes the proliferation of dermal fibroblasts, the migration, and in vitro angiogenesis of endothelial cells through paracrine mechanisms. The in vivo results from a full-thickness diabetic wound model demonstrate that GDFE can rapidly promote the diabetic wound repair and skin regeneration, through fast anti-inflammation and angiogenesis and M2 macrophage polarization. This study provides highly efficient strategy for treating diabetic wound repair through designing the M2 polarization-enabled anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial bioactive materials.     

Fire safe,sustainable loose furnishing

The aim of this exploratory study has been to investigate the fire properties and environmental aspects of different upholstery material combinations, mainly for domestic applications. An analysis of the sustainability and circularity of selected textiles, along with lifecycle assessment, is used to qualitatively evaluate materials from an environmental perspective. The cone calorimeter was the primary tool used to screen 20 different material combinations from a fire performance perspective. It was found that textile covers of conventional fibres such as wool, cotton and polyester, can be improved by blending them with fire resistant speciality fibres. A new three‐dimensional web structure has been examined as an alternative padding material, showing preliminary promising fire properties with regard to ignition time, heat release rates and smoke production.     

Fabrication and properties of the superhydrophobic ceria-based composite coating on magnesium alloy

A superhydrophobic ceria-based composite coating is developed to improve anticorrosion properties of AZ61 magnesium alloy, fabricating via chemical conversion method followed by hydrothermal treatment. The cerium conversion coating has a block structure with microcracks. After the hydrothermal treatment, a dense CeO₂ layer, porous CeO₂ nanorods, and stearic absorbing layers are grown stepwise on the conversion coating. And the composite coating is hydrophobic or even superhydrophobic and has almost no microcracks. As the hydrothermal reaction time increases, the water contact angle of the composite coating first increases and then decreases, and it reaches the maximum value of 152° after hydrothermal treatment for 4 h. Both the dense CeO₂ layer and the superhydrophobic stearic absorbing layer can effectively prevent the electrolyte from contacting the substrate; the corrosion current density of the superhydrophobic composite coating is lower than that of the hydrophilic composite coating and the cerium conversion coating, and has the best corrosion resistance.     

Effects of rice bran fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum on palatability,volatile profiles,and antioxidant activity of brown rice noodles

Brown rice noodles (RN) are typical whole-grain products with health benefits. This study investigated the effects of rice bran fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum on palatability, volatile profiles, and antioxidant activity of brown RN. Three kinds of RN, including RN, brown RN (BRN), and bran fermented RN (BFRN), were involved in this study. The results indicated that bran fermentation reduced the cooking loss of BFRN and improved the elongation and the sensory attributes of brown RN. After fermentation, aldehydes were significantly decreased while alcohols increased, and more pleasant flavours were shown in BFRN. Fermentation increased the content of free phenolics and decreased the content of bound phenolics. Among the four major phenolics detected in this study, ferulic acid was the most abundant one in all three RN samples. The DPPH radical scavenging activity and the ferric reducing antioxidant power of free phenolics in BFRN increased significantly compared to BRN. This study proved that rice bran fermentation is an effective approach to improve palatability, enrich the flavour as well as enhance the antioxidant activity of brown RN, which may facilitate the development of processing technology for brown RN.     

Simultaneous fractionation of multiple classes of polyphenols from honeybush tea using solid-phase extraction

The structural diversity of polyphenols and the inherent limitations of current extraction techniques pose a challenge to extract polyphenols using a simple and green method. Hence, in this study, a method was developed to simultaneously fractionate multiple classes of polyphenols by only varying ethanol-water solutions. Honeybush tea, which is rich in polyphenols, was selected as a model for this study. Solvent extraction followed by solid-phase extraction (SPE) was developed to obtain a polyphenol-rich fraction from six honeybush samples. Based on a gradient elution programme (10%, 30%, 50%, 70% and 90% (v/v) ethanol-water solution) of SPE, the Strata X cartridge showed a better recovery of most targeted polyphenols under 0.9 mL of the drying volume and 1 mL min⁻¹ of the dispensing speed. The elution programme for fractionating most polyphenols was as follows: single elution with 50% ethanol, followed by twice elution with 70% ethanol. The antioxidant capacity was used to analyse the differences among the polyphenol-rich fractions from six honeybush samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that unfermented C. genistoides (GG) has the greatest antioxidant capacity among the honeybush species studied. Additionally, mangiferin, isomangiferin and vicenin-2 were the main contributors to the antioxidant capacity in six honeybush fractions according to the correlation study.