Environmentally Friendly Graphene Inks for Touch Screen Sensors

Graphene-based materials have attracted significant attention in many technological fields, but scaling up graphene-based technologies still faces substantial challenges. High-throughput top-down methods generally require hazardous, toxic, and high-boiling-point solvents. Here, an efficient and inexpensive strategy is proposed to produce graphene dispersions by liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) through a combination of shear-mixing (SM) and tip sonication (TS) techniques, yielding highly concentrated graphene inks compatible with spray coating. The quality of graphene flakes (e.g., lateral size and thickness) and their concentration in the dispersions are compared using different spectroscopic and microscopy techniques. Several approaches (individual SM and TS, and their combination) are tested in three solvents (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, dimethylformamide, and cyrene). Interestingly, the combination of SM and TS in cyrene yields high-quality graphene dispersions, overcoming the environmental issues linked to the other two solvents. Starting from the cyrene dispersion, a graphene-based ink is prepared to spray-coat flexible electrodes and assemble a touch screen prototype. The electrodes feature a low sheet resistance (290 Ω □⁻¹) and high optical transmittance (78%), which provide the prototype with a high signal-to-noise ratio (14 dB) and multi-touch functionality (up to four simultaneous touches). These results illustrate a potential pathway toward the integration of LPE-graphene in commercial flexible electronics.     

剪切解络-超滤分离金属关键指标预测与验证

根据剪切解络-超滤过程中金属离子的动态浓度关系和质量守恒定律,采用CodeBlocks17.12软件编写程序,建立了剪切解络-超滤工艺关键指标预测模型,实现了金属离子浓度、回收率、体积稀释倍数等指标的预测,并用实验加以验证。依次在转速800 r/min、1 400 r/min、3 000 r/min下回收模拟废水中43 μg/L的Co²⁺、995 μg/L的Ni²⁺和88 μg/L的La³⁺,3种金属的回收率均达99.8%以上时,超滤过程体积稀释倍数的预测值分别为7.0、7.5、5.75,实验值分别为7.5、7.25、6.25,可见预测值与实验值基本一致。本模型对研究方案制定和调整有实际指导意义。     

Voice spoofing detection based on acoustic and glottal flow features using conventional machine learning techniques

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Automatic Speaker Verification (ASV) systems are vulnerable to spoofing attacks. Most existing spoofing detection systems rely on two main points; the feature...     

Nucleation and crystallization of Ba2Si3O8 spherulites in a barium aluminum silicate glass,and mechanical properties of the obtained glass-ceramics

The effect of spherulitic crystallization on the elastic moduli and fracture toughness of a barium aluminum silicate glass was investigated. The crystallization process results in Ba₂Si₃O₈ phase and is initiated from Ba rich nuclei. Nucleation is optimal in the 690-720 °C interval. Young’s modulus is increased by 12.5% when the glass-ceramic conversion is nearly complete. Nevertheless, as the size and the volume fraction of crystals are increased, some microcracking shows up upon cooling from the crystallization temperature. An optimal improvement of the fracture toughness (SEPB method) by 27 % is observed for a 49 % volume fraction of 5 to 10 μm large spherulites.     

Achieving High Electroluminescence Efficiency and High Color Rendering Index for All-Fluorescent White OLEDs Based on an Out-of-Phase Sensitizing System

Sensitizing conventional fluorescence (CF) dopants with thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials has achieved considerable progress, by which the advantages of TADF materials and CF dopants can be fully harnessed. However, the usually used co-phase configuration of CF dopant-engaged sensitizing systems often encounters exciton loss due to Dexter energy transfer (DET). Herein, an effective out-of-phase configuration is proposed to sensitize CF dopants in the fabrication of white organic light-emitting diodes (WOLEDs). Based on a new efficient sky-blue TADF luminogen DCP-BP-DPAC which has an electroluminescence (EL) peak at 486 nm and an EL efficiency of 26.6%, a green TADF material BDMAC-XT, and a red CF dopant DBP sensitized by BDMAC-XT through an out-of-phase configuration without interlayer, efficient WOLEDs are successfully fabricated. By further adopting orange TBRB or 4CzTPNBu as intermediate sensitizers, more efficient energy transfer to DBP is achieved via Förster energy transfer. Through step-by-step energy transfer and elimination of excess DET process, high-performance all-fluorescent WOLEDs are achieved, providing excellent EL efficiencies over 23.0%, and highly stable white light with a high color rendering index of 87. The outstanding EL performance and high-quality emission color demonstrate the great potential of the proposed out-of-phase design for sensitizing systems of WOLEDs.     

英寸级少层MoS2薄膜的低温可控制备

大面积二硫化钼(MoS2)薄膜的可控制备是其走向应用的关键环节,尤其是少层及P型电导的MoS2,对于器件应用具有重要意义,但鲜有文献报道.本工作采用室温射频(RF)磁控溅射法,在玻璃衬底上制备了英寸级的少层MoS2薄膜,并经低温退火,实现了大面积较高质量的MoS2薄膜可控制备.原子力显微镜(AFM)、拉曼光谱(Raman)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、高分辨透射电子显微镜(HRTEM)和紫外可见吸收光谱(UV-vis)分析结果表明:所制得的大面积超薄薄膜为3层的多晶膜,厚度约2.2 nm,且均匀、平整、可控,薄膜结晶性好、稳定性高.使用同样的工艺在Si/SiO2基片上制备少层MoS2薄膜,并将其制成背栅场效应晶体管(TFT),电学表征表明该薄膜呈现P型导电特征,载流子迁移率为0.183 cm2·V-1·s-1.本工作提供了一种大面积少层MoS2薄膜的可控制备方法,而且制备温度低,工艺简单且兼容性强,易实现大规模工业化生产.     

Cocaine Induces Cytoskeletal Changes in Cardiac Myocytes: Implications for Cardiac Morphology

Cocaine is one of the most widely abused illicit drugs worldwide and has long been recognised as an agent of cardiac dysfunction in numerous cases of drug overdose. Cocaine has previously been shown to up-regulate cytoskeletal rearrangements and morphological changes in numerous tissues; however, previous literature observes such changes primarily in clinical case reports and addiction studies. An investigation into the fundamental cytoskeletal parameters of migration, adhesion and proliferation were studied to determine the cytoskeletal and cytotoxic basis of cocaine in cardiac cells. Treatment of cardiac myocytes with cocaine increased cell migration and adhesion (p < 0.05), with no effect on cell proliferation, except with higher doses eliciting (1–10 μg/mL) its diminution and increase in cell death. Cocaine downregulated phosphorylation of cofilin, decreased expression of adhesion modulators (integrin-β3) and increased expression of ezirin within three hours of 1 μg/mL treatments. These functional responses were associated with changes in cellular morphology, including alterations in membrane stability and a stellate-like phenotype with less compaction between cells. Higher dose treatments of cocaine (5–10 μg/mL) were associated with significant cardiomyocyte cell death (p < 0.05) and loss of cellular architecture. These results highlight the importance of cocaine in mediating cardiomyocyte function and cytotoxicity associated with the possible loss of intercellular contacts required to maintain normal cell viability, with implications for cardiotoxicity relating to hypertrophy and fibrogenesis.     

A lightweight autonomous MAV for indoor search and rescue

Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) have great potentials to be applied for indoor search and rescue missions. In this paper, we propose a modular lightweight design of an autonomous MAV with integrated hardware and software. The MAV is equipped with the 2D laser scanner, camera, mission computer and flight controller, running all the computation onboard in real time. The onboard perception system includes a laser‐based SLAM module and a custom‐designed visual detection module. A dual Kalman filter design provides robust state estimation by multiple sensor fusion. Specifically, the fusion module provides robust altitude measurement in the circumstance of surface changing. In addition, indoor‐outdoor transition is explicitly handled by the fusion module. In order to efficiently navigate through obstacles and adapt to multiple tasks, a task tree‐based mission planning method is seamlessly integrated with path planning and control modules. The MAV is capable of searching and rescuing victims from unknown indoor environments effectively. It was validated by our award‐winning performance at the 2017 International Micro Air Vehicle Competition (IMAV 2017), held in Toulouse, France. The performance video is available on https://youtu.be/8H19ppS_VXM .