Treefrog Toe Pad‐Inspired Micropatterning for High‐Power Triboelectric Nanogenerator

Inspired by treefrog's toe pads that show superior frictional properties, herein, an industrially compatible approach is reported to make an efficient dielectric tribosurface design using customizable nonclose‐packed microbead arrays, mimicking the friction pads of treefrogs, in order to significantly enhance electrification performance and reliability of triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). The approach involves using an engineering polymer to prepare a highly ordered large‐area concave film, and subsequently the molding of a convex patterned triboreplica in which the concave film is exploited as a reusable master mold. A nature‐inspired TENG based on the patterned polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) paired with flat aluminum (Al) can generate a relatively high power density of 8.1 W m^?2 even if a very small force of ≈6.5 N is applied. Moreover, the convex patterned PDMS‐based TENG possesses exceptional durability and reliability over 25 000 cycles of contact–separation. Considering the significant improvements in power generation of TENG; particularly at very small force, together with cost‐effectiveness and possibility of mass production, the present methodology may pave the way for large‐scale blue energy harvesting and commercialization of TENGs for many practical applications.     

Highly Fluorescent and Color‐Tunable Exciplex Emission from Poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) Film Containing Nanostructured Supramolecular Acceptors

Highly fluorescent excited‐state charge‐transfer complexes (exciplexes) formed at the interfacial region between a polymeric donor matrix, here, poly(N‐vinylcarbazole), and embedded nanostructured acceptors are characterized for their photophysical properties. Exciplex‐to‐exciton emission switching is observed after solvent vapor annealing (SVA) due to the size evolution of the nanostructures beyond the exciton diffusion length. Color‐tunable exiplex emission (sky blue, green, and orange) is demonstrated for three different nanostructured acceptors with the same HOMO–LUMO gap (i.e., the same blue excitonic emission) but with different electron affinity. White‐emitting poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) film is also fabricated, simply by incorporating mixed supramolecular acceptors, which provide independent exciplex emissions. This study presents important insights into the excited‐state intermolecular interaction at the well‐defined nanoscale interface and suggests an efficient way to obtain multicolored exciplex emissions.     

Extraction of interface states at emitter–base heterojunctions in AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure bipolar transistors using sub-bandgap photonic excitation

Distribution of interface states at the emitter–base heterojunctions in heterostructure bipolar transistors (HBTs) is characterized by using current–voltage characteristics using sub-bandgap photonic excitation. Sub-bandgap photonic source with a photon energy E_ph which is less than the energy bandgap E_g (E_g,GaAs = 1.42, E_g,AlGaAs = 1.76 eV) of emitter, base, and collector of HBTs, is employed for exclusive excitation of carriers only from the interface states in the photo-responsive energy range at emitter–base heterointerface. The proposed method is applied to an Al_0.3Ga_0.7As/GaAs HBT (A_E = W_E × L_E = 250 × 100 μm²) with E_ph = 0.943 eV and P_opt = 3 mW. Extracted interface trap density D_it was observed to be D_it,max  4.2 × 10¹² eV⁻¹ cm⁻² at emitter–base heterointerface.     

On Joint Order Statistics in Correlated Nakagami Fading Channels

In this letter, the joint probability density function (pdf) of the order statistics for a set of correlated Nakagami-m fading channels is derived. This result is useful in analyzing the performance of a variety of diversity schemes which involve branch selection. The derivation also yields a computationally efficient method for obtaining the marginal pdf of the p-th order statistic for a set of correlated Nakagami-m fading channels.     

Binary-Code-Allocation Scheme in DS-CDMA Systems

In this paper, we consider a simple binary-transmitter adaptation in direct-sequence code-division multiple-access systems. We propose a binary-code-allocation scheme for reducing the multiple-access interference (MAI). In this scheme, a user is given an orthogonal binary sequence set. By choosing a better sequence from the sequence set, the user can maximize his/her signal to interference ratio. We examine the scheme analytically by both exact analysis and approximation in equal-power synchronous cases. Theoretically, it is found that the scheme can significantly reduce the MAI. It only involves a few bits of feedback information for the transmitter to adjust the sequences. The scheme can also be modified for multiuser adaptation in asynchronous channels. In a multiuser adaptation, simulations show that the users would have a significantly improved performance against the MAI, and the system throughput can also be increased. It is shown that this binary-code-allocation scheme is a simple, widely applicable, and robust binary-sequence-adaptation scheme     

Can Robots Manifest Personality?: An Empirical Test of Personality Recognition,Social Responses,and Social Presence in Human–Robot Interaction

Personality is an essential feature for creating socially interactive robots. Studies on this dimension will facilitate enhanced human–robot interaction (HRI). Using AIBO, a social robotic pet developed by Sony, we examined the issue of personality in HRI. In this gender-balanced 2 (AIBO personality: introvert vs. extrovert) by 2 (participant personality: introvert vs. extrovert) between-subject experiment (N = 48), we found that participants could accurately recognize a robot's personality based on its verbal and nonverbal behaviors. In addition, various complementarity attraction effects were found in HRI. Participants enjoyed interacting with a robot more when the robot's personality was complementary to their own personalities than when the robot's personality was similar to their own personalities. The same complementarity attraction effect was found in participants' evaluation of the robot's intelligence and social attraction. Participants' feelings of social presence during the interaction were a significant mediator for the complementarity attraction effects observed. Practical and theoretical implications of the current study for the design of social robots and the study of HRI were discussed.     

Intraphase Microstructure–Understanding the Impact on Organic Solar Cell Performance

A comprehensive study of the effect of intraphase microstructure on organic photovoltaic (OPV) device performance is undertaken. Utilizing a bilayer device architecture, a small molecule donor (TIPS‐DBC) is deposited by both spin‐coating and by thermal evaporation in vacuum. The devices are then completed by thermal evaporation of C₆₀, an exciton blocking layer and the cathode. This bilayer approach enables a direct comparison of device performance for donor layers in which the same material exhibits subtle differences in microstructure. The electrical performance is shown to differ considerably for the two devices. The bulk and interfacial properties of the donor layers are compared by examination with photoelectron spectroscopy in air (PESA), optical absorption spectroscopy, charge extraction of photo‐generated charge carriers by linearly increasing voltage (photo‐CELIV), time‐resolved photoluminescence measurements, X‐ray reflectometry (XR), and analysis of dark current behavior. The observed differences in device performance are shown to be influenced by changes to energy levels and charge transport properties resulting from differences in the microstructure of the donor layers. Importantly, this work demonstrates that in addition to the donor/acceptor microstructure, the intraphase microstructure can influence critical parameters and can therefore have a significant impact on OPV performance.     

Stable and High-Power Calcium-Ion Batteries Enabled by Calcium Intercalation into Graphite

Calcium-ion batteries (CIBs) are considered to be promising next-generation energy storage systems because of the natural abundance of calcium and the multivalent calcium ions with low redox potential close to that of lithium. However, the practical realization of high-energy and high-power CIBs is elusive owing to the lack of suitable electrodes and the sluggish diffusion of calcium ions in most intercalation hosts. Herein, it is demonstrated that calcium-ion intercalation can be remarkably fast and reversible in natural graphite, constituting the first step toward the realization of high-power calcium electrodes. It is shown that a graphite electrode exhibits an exceptionally high rate capability up to 2 A g⁻¹, delivering ≈75% of the specific capacity at 50 mA g⁻¹ with full calcium intercalation in graphite corresponding to ≈97 mAh g⁻¹. Moreover, the capacity stably maintains over 200 cycles without notable cycle degradation. It is found that the calcium ions are intercalated into graphite galleries with a staging process. The intercalation mechanisms of the “calciated” graphite are elucidated using a suite of techniques including synchrotron in situ X-ray diffraction, nuclear magnetic resonance, and first-principles calculations. The versatile intercalation chemistry of graphite observed here is expected to spur the development of high-power CIBs.     

Spontaneous dissection of the internal carotid artery

The arteriographic diagnosis of spontaneous, nontraumatic dissection of the internal carotid artery was made in 19 patients and confirmed at operation in ten. The tapered narrowing beginning in or about the carotid bulb and ending at the bony canal was a consistent finding. Four patients had associated aneurysm formation. All but one patient developed an acute hemispheric neurologic deficit as the initial symptom. The deficit was transient in ten and prolonged in eight. The dissection occurred in the outer layers of the media. None of the surgical specimens showed atherosclerosis. Surgical methods of management included segmental resection and grafting, thrombectomy and intimectomy, dilation, and simple ligation. Considerable improvement of luminal diameter occurred in six of seven patients whose arteries were left undisturbed.     

Cognitive functioning under moderate and low dosage methadone maintenance

The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) was administered to two groups of patients in the Santa Clara County Methadone Maintenance Program who were receiving low and moderate daily stabilized dosages of methadone hydrochloride. In the two separate statistical analyses performed, there were no significant differences found between subtest scores or verbal, performance, and full-scale scores of the groups measured. These results, combined with observations regarding the similarities of WAIS profiles of the two groups, indicate that cognitive functioning as measured by the WAIS was not differentially affected by the two dosages.