Highly crystalline WO3 thin films with ordered 3D mesoporosity and improved electrochromic performance

WO3 thin layers with nanometer-scale periodicity were prepared by evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) using a novel amphiphilic block-copolymer template (poly(ethylene-co-butylene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide)). The evolution of the mesoporous ordered network and the crystallinity of the framework were monitored by 2D-SAXS, WAXS, SEM, XPS, and porosimetry. By annealing the films, the pore-wall crystallinity is adjusted between fully amorphous and highly crystalline without mesostructural degradation. Thus, the crystalline-film framework is composed of phase-pure monoclinic WO3 nanoparticles (12-14 nm in size). Furthermore, heat treatment transforms the originally spherical mesopores into ellipsoids, resulting in a unidirectionally shrunken, but still well-defined and fully accessible bcc mesopore architecture. The influence of mesoporosity and crystallinity on electrochemical/electrochromic characteristics was addressed by monitoring electrochemical features and the absorption changes during Li insertion/extraction (repetitive potentiostatic cycling). Both the amorphous and crystalline mesoporous films possess electrochromic response times on the order of only seconds, which are attributable to the facilitated insertion of guest ions due to shortening of the diffusion path lengths. Also, the insertion/extraction reversibility of crystalline WO3 layers with 3D mesoporosity is improved compared to amorphous ones and reaches values close to 100%.     

Layer‐by‐Layer Coated Gold Nanoparticles: Size‐Dependent Delivery of DNA into Cells

Because nanoparticles are finding uses in myriad biomedical applications, including the delivery of nucleic acids, a detailed knowledge of their interaction with the biological system is of utmost importance. Here the size‐dependent uptake of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) (20, 30, 50 and 80 nm), coated with a layer‐by‐layer approach with nucleic acid and poly(ethylene imine) (PEI), into a variety of mammalian cell lines is studied. In contrast to other studies, the optimal particle diameter for cellular uptake is determined but also the number of therapeutic cargo molecules per cell. It is found that 20 nm AuNPs, with diameters of about 32 nm after the coating process and about 88 nm including the protein corona after incubation in cell culture medium, yield the highest number of nanoparticles and therapeutic DNA molecules per cell. Interestingly, PEI, which is known for its toxicity, can be applied at significantly higher concentrations than its IC₅₀ value, most likely because it is tightly bound to the AuNP surface and/or covered by a protein corona. These results are important for the future design of nanomaterials for the delivery of nucleic acids in two ways. They demonstrate that changes in the nanoparticle size can lead to significant differences in the number of therapeutic molecules delivered per cell, and they reveal that the toxicity of polyelectrolytes can be modulated by an appropriate binding to the nanoparticle surface.     

A W7-X experiment program editor––A usage driven development

The set-up of experiment programs for the complex fusion device Wendelstein 7-X has to define a multitude of parameters which have to obey large number of rules arising from physics and technical constraints. Since this is hard to automate as long as the dependencies are not known sufficiently, the W7-X CoDaC team decided to implement an editor following a constructive approach: starting from an established experiment program the user is able to modify parts of it – thus complying the usual workflow of experimenters.Already the very first implementation has been deployed at the W7-X CoDaC prototype, the WEGA stellarator. Driven by agile programming principles the weighting of the requirements has been influenced by the editor usage in the daily experiment routine, thus ensuring client-oriented development steps and short release cycles. At present, a stable program editor implementation with graphical preview, immediate feedback on user actions and instantaneous warnings about incorrect settings is under continuous operation at the CoDaC prototype. It has potential to improve together with growing knowledge about the physical and technical constraints. The experiences gained give certainty that the editor is suitable for future use during the start-up phase and the first years of W7-X operation.     

High-Temperature Oxidation Behavior of Refractory High-Entropy Alloys: Effect of Alloy Composition

The high-temperature oxidation behavior of a new family of refractory high-entropy alloys (HEAs) with compositions of W–Mo–Cr–Ti–Al, Nb–Mo–Cr–Ti–Al and Ta–Mo–Cr–Ti–Al was studied at 1000 and 1100 °C. Based on these equimolar starting compositions, the main incentive of this study was to select the most promising alloy system whose properties may then be successively improved. Despite the high amount of refractory elements, Ta–Mo–Cr–Ti–Al showed good oxidation resistance at 1000 and 1100 °C. Moderate values of mass gain and complex oxidation kinetics were observed for the W- and Nb-containing HEAs. These alloys formed inhomogeneous oxide scales possessing regions with thick and porous layers as well as areas revealing quite thin oxide scales due to the formation of discontinuous Cr- and Al-rich scales. The most promising behavior was shown by the alloy Ta–Mo–Cr–Ti–Al which followed the parabolic rate law for oxide growth due to the formation of a thin and compact Al-rich layer.     

Downdraft gasification of pellets made of wood,palm-oil residues respective bagasse: Experimental study

The downdraft gasification technology has an increased interest among researchers worldwide due to the possibility to produce mechanical and electrical power from biomass in small-scale to an affordable price. The research is generally focused on improvement of the performance and optimizing of a certain gasifier, on testing different fuels, on increasing the user-friendliness of the gasifier and on finding other uses for the product gas than in an IC-engine, for example liquid fuel production.     

Low-Frequency Instabilities in the Operation of Metallic Multi-Microchannel Evaporators

Visualization by high-speed videography and infrared surface thermography was used to compare the spatial and temporal maldistribution of flow, manifesting itself in pulsation and hot spot formation, respectively, in water evaporators consisting of either a single metallic foil with an array of mechanically micromachined microchannels or of several such foils assembled into an electrically powered micro heat exchanger. In the single layer devices examined by high-speed videography, pulsation in the frequency range below 20 Hz was found to be dominated by the generation of large bubbles in the inlet plenum. A redesign of the inlet with microchannels instead of a large plenum eliminated the pulsation at sub-audio frequencies, at the expense of a significantly increased pressure drop across the device. Infrared thermography of an electrically powered micro heat exchanger operated as an evaporator showed the formation of metastable hot spots as the result of maldistribution among different microchannel array layers. The formation of these hot spots could be eliminated by operating the device under heater cartridge temperature control conditions instead of constant power conditions.     

Synthesis and functional characterization of tridegin and its analogues: inhibitors and substrates of factor XIIIa

Tridegin, a 66‐mer peptide isolated from the leech Haementeria ghilianii, is a potent inhibitor of the coagulation factor XIIIa. This paper describes the chemical synthesis of tridegin by two different strategies—solid‐phase assembly and native chemical ligation—both followed by oxidation in solution phase. Tridegin and truncated analogues were examined for their activity and revealed a particular importance of the C‐terminal region of the parent peptide. Based on these studies a minimal sequence required for factor XIIIa inhibition could be identified. Our data revealed that the glutamine residue at position 52 (Q⁵²) of tridegin most likely binds to the active site of factor XIIIa and was therefore suggested to react with the enzyme. The function of the N‐terminal region is also discussed, as the isolated C‐terminal segment of tridegin lost its inhibitory activity rapidly in the presence of factor XIIIa, whereas this was not the case for the full‐length inhibitor.     

Beyond Heparinization: Design of Highly Potent Thrombin Inhibitors Suitable for Surface Coupling

During extracorporeal circulation, when blood comes in contact with artificial surfaces, patients receive a standard treatment with anticoagulants to avoid blood coagulation. Dialysis patients in particular are systemically treated with heparin up to four times a week, causing a high burden for the body. For potential anticoagulant modification of external materials, such as dialysis equipment, a series of highly potent thrombin inhibitors was developed. All inhibitors share the general formula arylsulfonyl‐P3‐Pro‐4‐amidinobenzylamide, where P3 is glycyl or a trifunctional amino acid residue in L ‐configuration. Among this series, several derivatives inhibit thrombin with K_i values of less than 1 nM . Specificity measurements revealed that this inhibitor type is highly specific for thrombin with negligible activity against related trypsin‐like serine proteases. X‐ray analysis of the most potent analogue in complex with thrombin demonstrated that the N‐terminal arylsulfonyl group occupies the aryl binding site, whereas the P3 side chain is directed into the solvent and therefore is well suited for further coupling. Based on their in vitro profile, these inhibitors are suitable candidates for the development of hemocompatible materials with anticoagulant properties.     

Image similarity and tissue overlaps as surrogates for image registration accuracy: widely used but unreliable

The accuracy of nonrigid image registrations is commonly approximated using surrogate measures such as tissue label overlap scores, image similarity, image difference, or transformation inverse consistency error. This paper provides experimental evidence that these measures, even when used in combination, cannot distinguish accurate from inaccurate registrations. To this end, we introduce a "registration" algorithm that generates highly inaccurate image transformations, yet performs extremely well in terms of the surrogate measures. Of the tested criteria, only overlap scores of localized anatomical regions reliably distinguish reasonable from inaccurate registrations, whereas image similarity and tissue overlap do not. We conclude that tissue overlap and image similarity, whether used alone or together, do not provide valid evidence for accurate registrations and should thus not be reported or accepted as such.