Control system for automatic search and transportation of an object by a mobile robot with obstacle avoidance function

Artificial Life and Robotics - In this paper, using image processing and distance measurement, we develop a control system for automatic grasping and obstacle avoidance by a mobile robot. First,...     

Anode/Cathode Dual-Purpose Aluminum Current Collectors for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

Rechargeable aqueous zinc (Zn)-ion batteries (RAZIBs), which use non-flammable aqueous electrolytes and low-cost electrode materials, show great potential to boost the development of safe, cost-effective, and highly efficient energy storage systems. The adoption of lightweight and inexpensive aluminum (Al) as current collectors seems to be a good vision, but Al exhibits an easily-corroded nature and a high impedance in aqueous electrolytes, making it a challenge to realize the utilization of Al current collector in RAZIBs. In this study, through the direct current magnetron sputtering, niobium (Nb) coated Al (Al-Nb) foils are prepared, which shows superior corrosion-resistance in an aqueous solution, while maintaining a satisfying electronic conductivity. Moreover, the Al-Nb foils can be adopted to both anode and cathode current collectors while exhibiting high coulombic efficiency and good cycling stability even when they are tested under a condition that can meet the real-world application demands, e.g., the Zn||Al-Nb half-cell shows an average coulombic efficiency of 99.17% in 320 cycles under a current density of 25 mA cm⁻² and a galvanizing capacity of 6.25 mAh cm⁻². The superior performance of the modified Al current collectors may mark a significant step toward the development of high-energy-density aqueous batteries.     

The role of silanol groups on the reaction of SiO2 and anhydrous hydrogen fluoride gas

It is essential to etch SiO₂ for producing silica glass components, semiconductor devices, and so on. Although wet-etching with hydrogen fluoride (HF) solutions is usually employed for this purpose, it faces a drawback that microstructures stick during the drying of the solution. To overcome this problem, we have developed a dry-etching technique with gaseous HF at high temperatures. In the present study, an interesting phenomenon was found that silicon thermal oxides were much less etched than vitreous silica by gaseous HF. Such difference had not been found in wet- or humid HF gas etching. Because their bulk chemical formulae are the same (SiO₂), it was suggested that the surface species affected the reaction rate. In fact, preprocessing with water vapor plasma remarkably increased the etching rate on the thermal oxides layer, and vacuum heating almost completely suppressed the reaction on the vitreous silica and the plasma-treated thermal oxides. These results indicate that the surface silanol groups enhance the reaction between SiO₂ and gaseous HF. Based on the results, a model of chain reaction for SiO₂ and gaseous HF was proposed, where the surface silanol groups act as the reaction center.     

Size-Controlled Synthesis of Luminescent Few-Atom Silver Clusters via Electron Transfer in Isostructural Redox-Active Porous Ionic Crystals (Small 23/2023)

Ag clusters with a controlled number of atoms have received significant interest because they show size-dependent catalytic, optical, electronic, or magnetic properties. However, the synthesis of size-controlled, ligand-free, and air-stable Ag clusters with high yields has not been well-established. Herein, it is shown that isostructural porous ionic crystals (PICs) with redox-active polyoxometalates (POMs) can be used to synthesize Ag clusters via electron transfer from POMs to Ag⁺. Ag clusters with average numbers of three, four, or six atoms emitting blue, green, or red colors, respectively, are formed and stabilized in the PICs under ambient conditions without any protecting ligands. The cluster size solely correlates with the degree of electron transfer, which is controlled by the reduction time and types of ions or elements of the PICs. Thus, advantages have been taken of POMs as electron sources and PICs as scaffolds to demonstrate a convenient method to obtain few-atom Ag clusters.