Structure and Magnetic Properties of Ce-Substituted Yttrium Iron Garnet Prepared by Conventional Sintering Techniques

Y_3?xCe _x Fe₅ O ₁₂ (CeYIG) ceramics, with x = 0, 0.15, 0.25, 0.35, 0.45, and 0.5, were fabricated by a conventional ceramic sintering technique. We studied the structures and magnetic fields of a series of CeYIG ceramics using X-ray powder diffraction, a scanning electron microscope, and a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer. Findings showed that the substitution limit of the concentration of Ce³⁺ ions in the yttrium iron garnet structure was approximately x = 0.25. An extra CeO₂ phase was detected in the ceramic when the addition of CeO₂ content overtook the limit. The lattice constants and relative densities increased by increasing the Ce³⁺ contents in the ceramics. First, the saturation magnetization increased gradually with increases in the substitute concentration of Ce³⁺ ions and then decreased gradually when x = 0.35, 0.45, and 0.5. Overall, this study showed that the Y_3?xCe _x Fe₅ O ₁₂ material with x ≤ 0.15 exhibited excellent magnetic properties. Hence, the material show promise for magneto-optical and microwave communication applications.     

Reducing Hysteresis and Enhancing Performance of Perovskite Solar Cells Using Low‐Temperature Processed Y‐Doped SnO2 Nanosheets as Electron Selective Layers

Despite the rapid increase of efficiency, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) still face some challenges, one of which is the current–voltage hysteresis. Herein, it is reported that yttrium‐doped tin dioxide (Y‐SnO₂) electron selective layer (ESL) synthesized by an in situ hydrothermal growth process at 95 °C can significantly reduce the hysteresis and improve the performance of PSCs. Comparison studies reveal two main effects of Y doping of SnO₂ ESLs: (1) it promotes the formation of well‐aligned and more homogeneous distribution of SnO₂ nanosheet arrays (NSAs), which allows better perovskite infiltration, better contacts of perovskite with SnO₂ nanosheets, and improves electron transfer from perovskite to ESL; (2) it enlarges the band gap and upshifts the band energy levels, resulting in better energy level alignment with perovskite and reduced charge recombination at NSA/perovskite interfaces. As a result, PSCs using Y‐SnO₂ NSA ESLs exhibit much less hysteresis and better performance compared with the cells using pristine SnO₂ NSA ESLs. The champion cell using Y‐SnO₂ NSA ESL achieves a photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 17.29% (16.97%) when measured under reverse (forward) voltage scanning and a steady‐state efficiency of 16.25%. The results suggest that low‐temperature hydrothermal‐synthesized Y‐SnO₂ NSA is a promising ESL for fabricating efficient and hysteresis‐less PSC.     

Surface Energy and Surface Stability of Ag Nanocrystals at Elevated Temperatures and Their Dominance in Sublimation‐Induced Shape Evolution

The surface energy and surface stability of Ag nanocrystals (NCs) are under debate because the measurable values of the surface energy are very inconsistent, and the indices of the observed thermally stable surfaces are apparently in conflict. To clarify this issue, a transmission electron microscope is used to investigate these problems in situ with elaborately designed carbon‐shell‐capsulated Ag NCs. It is demonstrated that the {111} surfaces are still thermally stable at elevated temperatures, and the victory of the formation of {110} surfaces over {111} surfaces on the Ag NCs during sublimation is due to the special crystal geometry. It is found that the Ag NCs behave as quasiliquids during sublimation, and the cubic NCs represent a featured shape evolution, which is codetermined by both the wetting equilibrium at the Ag–C interface and the relaxation of the system surface energy. Small Ag NCs (≈10 nm) no longer maintain the wetting equilibrium observed in larger Ag NCs, and the crystal orientations of ultrafine Ag NCs (≈6 nm) can rotate to achieve further shape relaxation. Using sublimation kinetics, the mean surface energy of Ag NCs at 1073 K is calculated to be 1.1–1.3 J m^?2.     

Sandwiched Thin‐Film Anode of Chemically Bonded Black Phosphorus/Graphene Hybrid for Lithium‐Ion Battery

A facile vacuum filtration method is applied for the first time to construct sandwich‐structure anode. Two layers of graphene stacks sandwich a composite of black phosphorus (BP), which not only protect BP from quickly degenerating but also serve as current collector instead of copper foil. The BP composite, reduced graphene oxide coated on BP via chemical bonding, is simply synthesized by solvothermal reaction at 140 °C. The sandwiched film anode used for lithium‐ion battery exhibits reversible capacities of 1401 mAh g^?1 during the 200th cycle at current density of 100 mA g^?1 indicating superior cycle performance. Besides, this facile vacuum filtration method may also be available for other anode material with well dispersion in N‐methyl pyrrolidone (NMP).     

Hollow Pd/MOF Nanosphere with Double Shells as Multifunctional Catalyst for Hydrogenation Reaction

A new type of hollow nanostructure featured double metal‐organic frameworks shells with metal nanoparticles (MNPs) is designed and fabricated by the methods of ship in a bottle and bottle around the ship. The nanostructure material, hereinafter denoted as Void@HKUST‐1/Pd@ZIF‐8, is confirmed by the analyses of photograph, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, powder X‐ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma, and N₂ sorption. It possesses various multifunctionally structural characteristics such as hollow cavity which can improve mass transfer, the adjacent of the inner HKUST‐1 shell to the void which enables the matrix of the shell to host and well disperse MNPs, and an outer ZIF‐8 shell which acts as protective layer against the leaching of MNPs and a sieve to guarantee molecular‐size selectivity. This makes the material eligible candidates for the heterogeneous catalyst. As a proof of concept, the liquid‐phase hydrogenation of olefins with different molecular sizes as a model reaction is employed. It demonstrates the efficient catalytic activity and size‐selectivity of Void@HKUST‐1/Pd@ZIF‐8.     

Epitaxial growth of large-area and highly crystalline anisotropic ReSe<Subscript>2</Subscript> atomic layer

The anisotropic two-dimensional (2D) layered material rhenium disulfide (ReSe2) has attracted considerable attention because of its unusual properties and promising applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices.However,because of its low lattice symmetry and interlayer decoupling,anisotropic growth and out-of-plane growth occur easily,yielding thick flakes,dendritic structure,or flower-like structure.In this study,we demonstrated a bottom-up method for the controlled and scalable synthesis of ReSe2 by van der Waals epitaxy.To achieve controllable growth,a micro-reactor with a confined reaction space was constructed by stacking two mica substrates in the chemical vapor deposition system.Within the confined reaction space,the nucleation density and growth rate of ReSe2 were significantly reduced,favoring the large-area synthesis of ReSe2 with a uniform monolayer thickness.The morphological evolution of ReSe2 with growth temperature indicated that the anisotropic growth was suppressed at a low growth temperature (＜600 ℃).Field-effect transistors employing the grown ReSe2 exhibited p-type conduction with a current ON/OFF ratio up to 10s and a hole carrier mobility of 0.98 cm2/(V.s).Furthermore,the ReSe2 device exhibited an outstanding photoresponse to near-infrared light,with responsivity up to 8.4 and 5.1 A/W for 850-and 940-nm light,respectively.This work not only promotes the large-scale application of ReSe2 in high-performance electronic devices but also clarifies the growth mechanism of low-lattice symmetry 2D materials.     

A series of nanoparticles with phase-separated structures by 1,1-diphenylethene controlled one-step soap-free emulsion copolymerization and their application in drug release

A facile one-step approach to synthesize various phase-separated porous, raspberry-like, flower-like, core–shell and anomalous nanoparticles and nanocapsules via 1,1-diphenylethene (DPE) controlled soap-free emulsion copolymerization of styrene (S) with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), or acrylic acid (AA) is reported. By regulating the mass ratio of S/GMA, transparent polymer solution, porous and anomalous P(S-GMA) particles could be produced. The P(S-GMA) particles turn from flower-like to raspberry-like and then to anomalous structures with smooth surface as the increase of divinylbenzene (DVB) crosslinker. Transparent polymer solution, nanocapsules and core–shell P(S-AA) particles could be obtained by altering the mole ratio of S/AA; anomalous and raspberry-like P(S-AA) particles are produced by adding DVB. The unpolymerized S resulted from the low monomer conversion in the presence of DPE aggregates to form nano-sized droplets, and migrates towards the external surfaces of the GMA-enriched P(S-GMA) particles and the internal bulk of the AA-enriched P(S-AA) particles. The nano-sized droplets function as in situ porogen, porous P(S-GMA) particles and P(S-AA) nanocapsules are produced when the porogen is removed. This novel, facile, one-step method with excellent controllability and reproducibility will inspire new strategies for creating hierarchical phase-separated polymeric particles with various structures by simply altering the species and ratio of comonomers. The drug loading and release experiments on the porous particles and nanocapsules demonstrate that the release of doxorubicin hydrochloride is very slow in weakly basic environment and quick in weakly acidic environment, which enables the porous particles and nanocapsules with promising potential in drug delivery applications.

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