Balancing MXene Surface Termination and Interlayer Spacing Enables Superior Microwave Absorption

Surface chemistry and interlayer engineering determines the electrical properties of 2D MXene. However, it remains challenging to regulate the surface and interfacial chemistry of MXene simultaneously. Herein, simultaneous modulation of Ti₃C₂T_x MXene surface termination and layer spacing by alkali treatment are achieved. The electrical and electromagnetic properties of Ti₃C₂T_x are investigated in detail with respect to KOH and ammonia concentration dependence. A high concentration of KOH caused the Ti₃C₂T_x layer spacing to expand to 13.7 Å and the surface O/F ratio to increase to 33.84. Because of its weaker ionization effect, ammonia provides finer tuning compared to the drastic intercalation of KOH with a thorough sweeping of the F-containing groups. Ti₃C₂T_x is enriched with conductive -OH termination after ammonia treatment, which achieves an effective balance with the increased interlayer resistance. Therefore, NH₃H₂O-Ti₃C₂T_x achieves broad-band impedance matching and exhibits an efficient microwave loss of −49.1 dB at a low thickness of 1.7 mm, with an effective frequency bandwidth of 3.9 GHz. The results herein optimize the electrical properties of Ti₃C₂T_x using surface and interfacial chemistry to achieve broad microwave absorption, providing a framework for enhancing the electromagnetic wave loss of intrinsic MXene.     

Exploring a Stable and Dense 3D Lead Chloride Hybrid with Emission of Self-Trapped Excitons toward X-Ray Scintillation

The exceptional photophysical properties of 3D organic–inorganic lead halide hybrids (OILHs) endow their significant potential for usage in optoelectronics, which has sparked intense research on novel 3D OILHs and associated applications. However, constructing new 3D OILHs based on large organic cations suffers from tough challenges due to the limitation of the Goldschmidt tolerance factor rule, let alone further explorations of their practical applications. Herein, a brand-new 3D lead chloride hybrid, (1MPZ)Pb₄Cl₁₀·H₂O ( 1 , 1MPZ = 1-methylpiperazine) is reported, featuring a dense 3D lead chloride framework made of the corner-, edge-, and face-shared lead chloride polyhedra. 1 presents a broadband white light emission with a large Stokes shift and a nanosecond photoluminescence lifetime, which originates from radiative recombination of self-trapped excitons (STEs) induced by the highly distorted structure. Such a reabsorption-free and fast-decayed STEs emission coupling with the dense 3D architecture further enables 1 with effective X-ray scintillation with good sensitivity. Impressively, 1 also shows superior environmental and radiation stability. This study provides a new 3D OILH with appealing luminescence, not only expanding the 3D OILH family but also inspiring the exploitation of their optoelectronic applications.     

Recent Progress of Bismuth Effect on All-Inorganic Lead-Free Metal Halide Derivatives: Crystals Structure,Luminescence Properties,and Applications

Bismuth (Bi³⁺)-included lead-free metal halide (LFMH) materials attract much attention in lighting, display, photodetectors, X-ray detectors, and photovoltaic fields, due to the tunable luminescence and optoelectronic performance in response to crystal and electronic structure, morphology, and particle sizes. This review summarizes Bi³⁺-included LFMH materials about their preparation approach, crystal and electronic structure properties, luminescence performance, and emerging applications. Notably, Bi³⁺ ions not only can act as framework cation to construct stable LFMH structure, but can also incorporate into LFMH materials as activators or sensitizers to generate remarkable luminescence tuning and band engineering. The Bi³⁺ effect on the luminescence and optoelectronic properties of LFMH materials, including, promotion of exciton localization, enhancement of light absorption in near-ultraviolet region, action as sensitizer ions to transfer energy to rare earth or transition metal ions and emission of highly-efficient light is systematically summarized. The proposed structure-luminescence relationship offers guidance for the optimization of current Bi³⁺-included LFMH materials and the exploitation of new LFMH derivatives.     

一种基于无线射频通讯的共享雨伞系统

目前,以资源优化可利用和绿色出行为理念的共享经济蓬勃发展,基于此,本发明针对用户遇到突发性降雨天气时对雨伞临时需求,本文设计并实现了一款共享雨伞。本设计发明设计一类伞上装有电子标签的雨伞及雨伞借还系统,使用射频识别技术读取电子标签,使用Java技术编写微信小程序,利用STM32单片机控制伞桩的内部运行,便捷用户突遇突发性天气时及时满足用户对伞的需求,还提高社会资源的利用率。     

Isolation and characterization of seven quorum quenching bacteria for biofouling control in MBR

Recently, interspecies quorum quenching (QQ) by bacteria has been reported as a novel approach in biofouling control in membrane bioreactor (MBR) for wastewater treatment. In this study, seven QQ bacteria, named RO1 to RO7, were isolated from fouling reverse osmosis (RO) membrane and were encapsulated in the microbial filters for biofouling control in MBR. Results showed that all isolates have extracellular QQ activity, and RO1 to RO6 were characterized as heat-stable enzymatic degradation of N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs), while RO7 was mainly pH-dependent. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene indicated that RO7 was a species of Pseudomonas sp., others belonged to the species of Bacillus, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Delftia tsuruhatensis, respectively. Then, the microbial filters encapsulated each isolate were applied in a laboratory-scaled MBR and proved the substantial inhibition effect on membrane biofouling except for RO7, indicating that QQ bacteria employing enzymes to degrade AHLs have great potential in biofouling control in MBR.     

Carbon Nanodot‐Sensitized Modulation of Alzheimer's β‐Amyloid Self‐Assembly,Disassembly, and Toxicity

The self‐assembly of amyloidogenic peptides into β‐sheet‐rich aggregates is a general feature of many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, which signifies the need for the effective attenuation of amyloid aggregation toward alleviating amyloid‐associated neurotoxicity. This study reports that photoluminescent carbon nanodots (CDs) can effectively suppress Alzheimer's β‐amyloid (Aβ) self‐assembly and function as a β‐sheet breaker disintegrating preformed Aβ aggregates. This study synthesizes CDs using ammonium citrate through one‐pot hydrothermal treatment and passivates their surface with branched polyethylenimine (bPEI). The bPEI‐coated CDs (bPEI@CDs) exhibit hydrophilic and cationic surface characteristics, which interact with the negatively charged residues of Aβ peptides, suppressing the aggregation of Aβ peptides. Under light illumination, bPEI@CDs display a more pronounced effect on Aβ aggregation and on the dissociation of β‐sheet‐rich assemblies through the generation of reactive oxygen species from photoactivated bPEI@CDs. The light‐triggered attenuation effect of Aβ aggregation using a series of experiments, including photochemical and microscopic analysis, is verified. Furthermore, the cell viability test confirms the ability of photoactivated bPEI@CDs for the suppression of Aβ‐mediated cytotoxicity, indicating bPEI@CDs' potency as an effective anti‐Aβ neurotoxin agent.     

Due-window assignment and scheduling with general position-dependent processing times involving a deteriorating and compressible maintenance activity

In this paper, we consider common due-window assignment and scheduling problems with general position-dependent processing times involving deteriorating and compressible maintenance activity on a single machine. Two models associated with maintenance activity are examined in this article, in which the maintenance length is assumed to be either time-dependent and compressible or position-dependent and compressible. The objective is to find jointly the location and size of due-window, position of maintenance as well as resource amount allocated to it, and job sequence to minimise a total cost function based on earliness, tardiness, window location, window size and resource cost. We show that the problem considered in each of the two models’ setting can be optimally solved with polynomial time algorithm by reducing to assignment problem. Finally, two examples are provided to illustrate the solution procedures.     

Ultra-dense planar metallic nanowire arrays with extremely large anisotropic optical and magnetic properties

A nanofabrication method for the production of ultra-dense planar metallic nanowire arrays scalable to wafer-size is presented. The method is based on an efficient template deposition process to grow diverse metallic nanowire arrays with extreme regularity in only two steps. First, III–V semiconductor substrates are irradiated by a low-energy ion beam at an elevated temperature, forming a highly ordered nanogroove pattern by a “reverse epitaxy” process due to self-assembly of surface vacancies. Second, diverse metallic nanowire arrays (Au, Fe, Ni, Co, FeAl alloy) are fabricated on these III–V templates by deposition at a glancing incidence angle. This method allows for the fabrication of metallic nanowire arrays with periodicities down to 45 nm scaled up to wafer-size fabrication. As typical noble and magnetic metals, the Au and Fe nanowire arrays produced here exhibited large anisotropic optical and magnetic properties, respectively. The excitation of localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) of the Au nanowire arrays resulted in a high electric field enhancement, which was used to detect phthalocyanine (CoPc) in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Furthermore, the Fe nanowire arrays showed a very high in-plane magnetic anisotropy of approximately 412 mT, which may be the largest in-plane magnetic anisotropy field yet reported that is solely induced via shape anisotropy within the plane of a thin film.

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