Miniaturized Flexible Electronic Systems with Wireless Power and Near‐Field Communication Capabilities

A class of thin, lightweight, flexible, near‐field communication (NFC) devices with ultraminiaturized format is introduced, and systematic investigations of the mechanics, radio frequency characteristics, and materials aspects associated with their optimized construction are presented. These systems allow advantages in mechanical strength, placement versatility, and minimized interfacial stresses compared to other NFC technologies and wearable electronics. Detailed experimental studies and theoretical modeling of the mechanical and electromagnetic properties of these systems establish understanding of the key design considerations. These concepts can apply to many other types of wireless communication systems including biosensors and electronic implants.     

All‐Carbon Nanoarchitectures as High‐Performance Separation Membranes with Superior Stability

The application of graphene‐based membranes is hindered by their poor stability under practical hydrodynamic conditions. Here, nanocarbon architectures are designed by intercalating surface‐functionalized, small‐diameter, multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets to create highly stable membranes with improved water permeability and enhanced membrane selectivity. With the intercalation of 10 nm diameter MWCNTs, the water permeability reaches 52.7 L m^?2 h^?1 bar^?1, which is 4.8 times that of pristine rGO membrane and five to ten times higher than most commercial nanofiltration membranes. The membrane also attains almost 100% rejection for three organic dyes of different charges. More importantly, the membrane can endure a turbulent hydrodynamic flow with cross‐flow rates up to 2000 mL min^?1 and a Reynolds number of 4667. Physicochemical characterization reveals that the inner graphitic walls of the MWCNTs can serve as spacers, while nanoscale rGO foliates on the outer walls interconnect with the assimilated rGO sheets to instill superior membrane stability. In contrast, intercalating with single‐walled nanotubes fails to reproduce such stability. Overall, this nanoarchitectured design is highly versatile in creating both graphene‐rich and CNT‐rich all‐carbon membranes with engineered nanochannels, and is regarded as a general approach in obtaining stable membranes for realizing practical applications of graphene‐based membranes.     

Poly(arylene piperidinium) Hydroxide Ion Exchange Membranes: Synthesis,Alkaline Stability,and Conductivity

A series of poly(arylene piperidinium)s (PAPipQs) devoid of any alkali‐sensitive aryl ether bonds or benzylic sites are prepared and studied as anion exchange membranes (AEMs) for alkaline fuel cells. First, the excellent alkaline stability of the model compound 4,4‐diarylpiperidinium is confirmed. Medium molecular weight poly(arylene piperidine)s are then synthesized in polycondensations of N‐methyl‐4‐piperidone and either bi‐ or terphenyl via superelectrophilic activation in triflic acid. Film‐forming PAPipQs are subsequently prepared in Menshutkin reactions with methyl, butyl, hexyl, and octyl halides, respectively. AEMs based on poly(terphenyl dimethylpiperidinium) show the best performance with no structural degradation detectable by ¹H NMR spectroscopy after storage in 2 m aq. NaOH at 60 °C after 15 d, and a mere 5% ionic loss at 90 °C. In the fully hydrated state these AEMs reach an OH^? conductivity of 89 mS cm^?1 at 80 °C. The presence of longer pendant N‐alkyl chains (butyl to octyl) is found to significantly promote Hofmann ring‐opening elimination reactions and the degradation rate increases with increasing alkyl chain length. The results of the present study demonstrate that PAPipQs are efficiently prepared from readily available monomers and show excellent alkaline stability and OH^? conductivity when devoid of pendant N‐alkyl chains.     

Theoretical and Experimental Insight into the Mechanism for Spontaneous Vertical Growth of ReS2 Nanosheets

Rhenium disulfide (ReS₂) differs fundamentally from other group‐VI transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) due to its low structural symmetry, which results in its optical and electrical anisotropy. Although vertical growth is observed in some TMDs under special growth conditions, vertical growth in ReS₂ is very different in that it is highly spontaneous and substrate‐independent. In this study, the mechanism that underpins the thermodynamically favorable vertical growth mode of ReS₂ is uncovered. It is found that the governing mechanism for ReS₂ growth involves two distinct stages. In the first stage, ReS₂ grows parallel to the growth substrate, consistent with conventional TMD growth. However, subsequent vertical growth is nucleated at points on the lattice where Re atoms are “pinched” together. At such sites, an additional Re atom binds with the cluster of pinched Re atoms, leaving an under‐coordinated S atom protruding out of the ReS₂ plane. This under‐coordinated S is “reactive” and binds to free Re and S atoms, initiating growth in a direction perpendicular to the ReS₂ surface. The utility of such vertical ReS₂ arrays in applications where high surface‐to‐volume ratio and electric‐field enhancement are essential, such as surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, field emission, and solar‐based disinfection of bacteria, is demonstrated.     

Short packet communication in underlay cognitive network assisted by an intelligent reflecting surface

We propose short packet communication in an underlay cognitive radio network assisted by an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) composed of multiple reconfigurable reflectors. This scheme, called the IRS protocol, operates in only one time slot (TS) using the IRS. The IRS adjusts its phases to give zero received cumulative phase at the secondary destination, thereby enhancing the end-to-end signal-to-noise ratio. The transmitting power of the secondary source is optimized to simultaneously satisfy the multi-interference constraints, hardware limitations, and performance improvement. Simulation and analysis results of the average block error rates (BLERs) show that the performance can be enhanced by installing more reconfigurable reflectors, increasing the blocklength, lowering the number of required primary receivers, or sending fewer information bits. Moreover, the proposed IRS protocol always outperforms underlay relaying protocols using two TSs for data transmission, and achieves the best average BLER at identical transmission distances between the secondary source and secondary destination. The theoretical analyses are confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations.     

Complementary integrated circuits on plastic foil using inkjet printed n- and p-type organic semiconductors: Fabrication,characterization, and circuit analysis

Complementary thin-film transistor circuits composed of 6,13-bis(triisopropyl-silylethynyl) pentacene (TIPS–PEN) and a rylene carboxylic diimide derivative for p- and n-channel thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated on flexible foils. The so-called staggered TFT configuration is used, meaning that the semiconductors layers are deposited last. The work-function of the injecting gold electrodes were modified using several self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). For optimized contacts the mobility of the n- and p-channel TFTs was 0.5 cm²/Vs and 0.2 cm²/Vs, respectively. Strongly degraded performance is obtained when the n-channel material was printed on contacts optimized for the p-channel TFT, and vice versa. This illustrates that for CMOS circuits we need careful work-function engineering to allow proper injection for both electrons and holes. We show for the first time that by using a bimolecular mixture for the SAM we can systematically vary the work function, and demonstrate how this affects the performance of discrete n-type and p-type transistors, as well as CMOS inverters and ring oscillators. Under optimal processing conditions we realized complementary 19-stage ring oscillators with 10 μs stage delay operating at 20 V.     

An Integration of Source and Jammer for a Decode-and-Forward Two-way Scheme Under Physical Layer Security

In this paper, we propose and analyze the integration of source and jammer for a decode-and-forward two-way scheme under physical layer security where the source nodes not only transmit data signals, but also transmit jamming signals to degrade the quality of eavesdropping links, and a selected relay forwards the combined data signals using an XOR operation. In this proposed protocol, the best relay is chosen by the maximum end-to-end achievable secrecy rate, and the secrecy system performance is evaluated by the exact and asymptotic secrecy outage probability over flat and block Rayleigh fading channels. The Monte-Carlo results are presented to verify the theoretical analysis.     

不断增强RF功率测量

精确的RF功率管理是现代无线发射器的热点话题,从基站的功率放大器保护到移动应用中的延长电池使用时间,它都有很多的优点。RF功率监测器,比如对数放大器,允许RF功率测量系统在一个较宽的范围监控和动态调整发射功率。尽管近几年来功率监测的精度已经有了很大改进,但是对于像那些需要高功率发射的应用甚至受到0dB功率监测误差微小变化引起的显著影响。因此这也促使检测器性能不断提高。     

Robust Design of Dual‐Phasic Carbon Cathode for Lithium–Oxygen Batteries

Given that the performance of a lithium–oxygen battery (LOB) is determined by the electrochemical reactions occurring on the cathode, the development of advanced cathode nanoarchitectures is of great importance for the realization of high‐energy‐density, reversible LOBs. Herein, a robust cathode design is proposed for LOBs based on a dual‐phasic carbon nanoarchitecture. The cathode is composed of an interwoven network of porous metal–organic framework (MOF) derived carbon (MOF‐C) and conductive carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The dual‐phasic nanoarchitecture incorporates the advantages of both components: MOF‐C provides a large surface area for the oxygen reactions and a large pore volume for Li₂O₂ storage, and CNTs provide facile pathways for electron and O₂ transport as well as additional void spaces for Li₂O₂ accommodation. It is demonstrated that the synergistic nanoarchitecturing of the dual‐phasic MOF‐C/CNT material results in promising electrochemical performance of LOBs, as evidenced by a high discharge capacity of ≈10 050 mAh g^?1 and a stable cycling performance over 75 cycles.