Silica shell-assisted synthetic route for mono-disperse persistent nanophosphors with enhanced in vivo recharged near-infrared persistent luminescence

Near-infrared (NIR) persistent-luminescence nanoparticles have emerged as a new class of background-free contrast agents that are promising for in vivo imaging.The next key roadblock is to establish a robust and controllable method for synthesizing monodisperse nanoparticles with high luminescence brightness and long persistent duration.Herein,we report a synthesis strategy involving the coating/etching of the SiO2 shell to obtain a new class of small NIR highly persistent luminescent ZnGa2O4∶Cr3+,Sn4+ (ZGOCS) nanoparticles.The optimized ZGOCS nanoparticles have an excellent size distribution of ～15 nm without any agglomeration and an NIR persistent luminescence that is enhanced by a factor of 13.5,owing to the key role of the SiO2 shell in preventing nanoparticle agglomeration after annealing.The ZGOCS nanoparticles have a signal-to-noise ratio ～3 times higher than that of previously reported ZnGa2O4∶Cr3+ (ZGC-1) nanoparticles as an NIR persistent-luminescence probe for in vivo bioimaging.Moreover,the persistent-luminescence signal from the ZGOCS nanoparticles can be repeatedly re-charged in situ with external excitation by a white lightemitting diode;thus,the nanoparticles are suitable for long-term in vivo imaging applications.Our study suggests an improved strategy for fabricating novel high-performance optical nanoparticles with good biocompatibility.     

A Change-Point Approach for Phase-I Analysis in Multivariate Profile Monitoring and Diagnosis

Process monitoring and fault diagnosis using profile data remains an important and challenging problem in statistical process control (SPC). Although the analysis of profile data has been extensively studied in the SPC literature, the challenges associated with monitoring and diagnosis of multichannel (multiple) nonlinear profiles are yet to be addressed. Motivated by an application in multioperation forging processes, we propose a new modeling, monitoring, and diagnosis framework for phase-I analysis of multichannel profiles. The proposed framework is developed under the assumption that different profile channels have similar structure so that we can gain strength by borrowing information from all channels. The multidimensional functional principal component analysis is incorporated into change-point models to construct monitoring statistics. Simulation results show that the proposed approach has good performance in identifying change-points in various situations compared with some existing methods. The codes for implementing the proposed procedure are available in the supplementary material.     

Patterning of Discotic Liquid Crystals with Tunable Molecular Orientation for Electronic Applications

The large‐area formation of functional micropatterns with liquid crystals is of great significance for diversified applications in interdisciplinary fields. Meanwhile, the control of molecular alignment in the patterns is fundamental and prerequisite for the adequate exploitation of their photoelectric properties. However, it would be extremely complicated and challenging for discotic liquid crystals (DLCs) to achieve the goal, because they are insensitive to external fields and surface chemistry. Herein, a simple method of patterning and aligning DLCs on flat substrates is disclosed through precise control of the formation and dewetting of the capillary liquid bridges, within which the DLC molecules are confined. Large‐area uniform alignment occurs spontaneously due to directional shearing force when the solvent is slowly evaporated and programmable patterns could be directly generated on desired substrates. Moreover, the in‐plane column direction of DLCs is tunable by slightly tailoring their chemical structures which changes their self‐assembly behaviors in liquid bridges. The patterned DLCs show molecular orientation–dependent charge transport properties and are promising for templating self‐assembly of other materials. The study provides a facile method for manipulation of the macroscopic patterns and microscopic molecular orientation which opens up new opportunities for electronic applications of DLCs.     

Atomic disorders in layer structured topological insulator SnBi<Subscript>2</Subscript>Te<Subscript>4</Subscript> nanoplates

Identification of atomic disorders and their subsequent control has proven to be a key issue in predicting, understanding, and enhancing the properties of newly emerging topological insulator materials. Here, we demonstrate direct evidence of the cation antisites in single-crystal SnBi₂Te₄ nanoplates grown by chemical vapor deposition, through a combination of sub-ångström-resolution imaging, quantitative image simulations, and density functional theory calculations. The results of these combined techniques revealed a recognizable amount of cation antisites between Bi and Sn, and energetic calculations revealed that such cation antisites have a low formation energy. The impact of the cation antisites was also investigated by electronic structure calculations together with transport measurement. The topological surface properties of the nanoplates were further probed by angle-dependent magnetotransport, and from the results, we observed a two-dimensional weak antilocalization effect associated with surface carriers. Our approach provides a pathway to identify the antisite defects in ternary chalcogenides and the application potential of SnBi2Te4 nanostructures in next-generation electronic and spintronic devices.

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