Progressive NO2 Sensors with Rapid Alarm and Persistent Memory-Type Responses for Wide-Range Sensing Using Antimony Triselenide Nanoflakes

Antimony triselenide (Sb₂Se₃) nanoflake-based nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) sensors exhibit a progressive bifunctional gas-sensing performance, with a rapid alarm for hazardous highly concentrated gases, and an advanced memory-type function for low-concentration (<1 ppm) monitoring repeated under potentially fatal exposure. Rectangular and cuboid shaped Sb₂Se₃ nanoflakes, comprising van der Waals planes with large surface areas and covalent bond planes with small areas, can rapidly detect a wide range of NO₂ gas concentrations from 0.1 to 100 ppm. These Sb₂Se₃ nanoflakes are found to be suitable for physisorption-based gas sensing owing to their anisotropic quasi-2D crystal structure with extremely enlarged van der Waals planes, where they are humidity-insensitive and consequently exhibit an extremely stable baseline current. The Sb₂Se₃ nanoflake sensor exhibits a room-temperature/low-voltage operation, which is noticeable owing to its low energy consumption and rapid response even under a NO₂ gas flow of only 1 ppm. As a result, the Sb₂Se₃ nanoflake sensor is suitable for the development of a rapid alarm system. Furthermore, the persistent gas-sensing conductivity of the sensor with a slow decaying current can enable the development of a progressive memory-type sensor that retains the previous signal under irregular gas injection at low concentrations.     

Magnetically Guidable Proteinaceous Adhesive Microbots for Targeted Locoregional Therapeutics Delivery in the Highly Dynamic Environment of the Esophagus

The esophagus is a tubular-shaped muscular organ where swallowed fluids and muscular contractions constitute a highly dynamic environment. The turbulent, coordinated processes that occur through the oropharyngeal conduit can often compromise targeted administration of therapeutic drugs to a lesion, significantly reducing therapeutic efficacy. Here, magnetically guidable drug vehicles capable of strongly adhering to target sites using a bioengineered mussel adhesive protein (MAP) to achieve localized delivery of therapeutic drugs against the hydrodynamic physiological conditions are proposed. A suite of highly uniform microparticles embedded with iron oxide (IO) nanoparticles (MAP@IO MPs) is microfluidically fabricated using the genipin-mediated covalent cross-linking of bioengineered MAP. The MAP@IO MPs are successfully targeted to a specific region and prolongedly retained in the tubular-structured passageway. In particular, orally administered MAP@IO MPs are effectively captured in the esophagus in vivo in a magnetically guidable manner. Moreover, doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded MAP@IO MPs exhibit a sustainable DOX release profile, effective anticancer therapeutic activity, and excellent biocompatibility. Thus, the magnetically guidable locomotion and robust underwater adhesive properties of the proteinaceous soft microbots can provide an intelligent modular approach for targeted locoregional therapeutics delivery to a specific lesion site in dynamic fluid-associated tubular organs such as the esophagus.     

Al2O3 Colloidal Nanocrystals with Strong UV Emission

A facile sol–gel procedure has been developed for the synthesis of colloidal alumina nanocrystals. For the first time, optical characterization procedures were employed to study the quantum confinement effects in optical properties of the prepared Al₂O₃ sol. Accordingly, the hyperbolic band model was used to determine the optical band gap of colloidal alumina nanocrystals. X‐Ray diffraction pattern was used to study the crystallographic phase of the dried gel. Morphological characterization was performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) emission spectroscopy was used to determination purity of the Al₂O₃ powder. High‐resolution TEM showed that the diameter of colloidal nanocrystals is about 10 nm. Photoluminescence spectroscopy demonstrated that quantum yields for colloidal nanocrystals are 68% with 300 nm excitation wavelength. The experimental observations confirm that highly stable alumina sol with strong UV emission was synthesized. The mentioned optical properties have not been reported before.     

Coal liquefaction using a hydrogenated creosote oil solvent: H-atom transfer from hydrogen donor components in the solvent

The presence of hydroaromatic, hydrogen donor components in a coal-derived solvent is one of the more important factors in the successful operation of a non-catalytic coal liquefaction process. Various hydrogen donor species present in a hydrogenated creosote oil have been identified. Their rate of disappearance under conditions that are consistent with a short residence time coal liquefaction process has been used to rank the reactivities of the various hydrogen donors. 1,2,3,10b-Tetrahydrofluoranthene was found to be an exceptional donor while 4,5-dihydropyrene, the hexahydropyrenes and 9,10-dihydrophenanthrene were found to be quite active. Sym.-octahydrophenanthrene and 2a,3,4,5-tetrahydroacenaphthene exhibited moderate activity. Tetralin and the four methyltetralin isomers were found to be unreactive under the coal liquefaction conditions employed.     

Complementary effects of solid lubricants in the automotive brake lining

An experimental investigation was carried out to examine the tribological behavior of NAO (non-asbestos organic) type brake linings containing different volume ratios of graphite and antimony trisulfide (Sb₂S₃). A scale dynamometer was used for friction tests and particular emphases were given to the effect of applied pressure, sliding speed, and temperature on the coefficient of friction according to the relative amounts of the two solid lubricants. Results showed that the brake linings with both solid lubricants exhibited better friction stability and less speed sensitivity than the friction materials containing a single solid lubricant. In particular, the brake lining containing higher concentrations of graphite showed better fade resistance than others during high-temperature friction test.     

Threshold‐Based Camera Motion Characterization of MPEG Video

We propose an efficient scheme for camera motion characterization in MPEG‐compressed video. The proposed scheme detects six types of basic camera motions through threshold‐based qualitative interpretation, in which fixed thresholds are applied to motion model parameters estimated from MPEG motion vectors (MVs). The efficiency and robustness of the scheme are validated by the experiment with real compressed video sequences.     

A Novel Body-tied Silicon-On-Insulator(SOI) n-channel Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor with Grounded Body Electrode

A novel body-tied silicon-on-insulator(SOI) n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor with grounded body electrode named GBSOI nMOSFET has been developed by wafer bonding and etch-back technology. It has no floating body effect such as kink phenomena on the drain current curves, single-transistor latch and drain current overshoot inherent in a normal SOI device with floating body. We have characterized the interface trap density, kink phenomena on the drain current (I_DS-V_DS) curves, substrate resistance effect on the I_DS-V_DS curves, subthreshold current characteristics and single transistor latch of these transistors. We have confirmed that the GBSOI structure is suitable for high-speed and low-voltage VLSI circuits.     

In situ polyurethane/silica composite formation via a sol‐gel process

Polyurethane acrylate anionomer (PUAA)/silica composite gels were prepared by the sol‐gel reaction of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and methacryloxypropyl trimethoxysilane (MPTS) incorporated to PUAA gels by using a swelling method. The formation and structure of composites were confirmed by FTIR, X‐ray diffraction, and SEM. As a result, we found that silica components in composites are located within the ionic domains of their gels and interacted with PUAA via hydrogen bonding. This drastically enhanced the mechanical properties of the composites. Mechanical properties are also improved by MPTS, because MPTS improves the dispersibility and adhesion of silica components in PUAA/silica composite gels. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 2327–2334, 2002