Notes

Career look for self-regulation in the course of COVID-19: Connecting research constraints, health problems, and also invulnerability to be able to work search processes along with final results.
Temperature-dependent Raman measurements reveal that the broad phonon bands observed at room temperature consist of a series of sharp modes and that such mode splitting strongly differs for the different organic moieties and vibrational bands. Softer molecules such as BA result in lower vibrational frequencies and splitting into fewer modes, while more rigid molecules such as PEA lead to higher frequency oscillations and larger number of Raman peaks at low temperature. Interestingly, in distinct bands the number of peaks in the Raman bands is doubled for the rigid PEA compared to the soft BA linkers. Our work shows that the coupling to specific vibrational modes can be controlled by the incident light polarization and choice of the organic moiety, which could be exploited for tailoring exciton-phonon interaction, and for optical switching of the optoelectronic properties of such 2D layered materials.Structural colors that can be changed dynamically, using either plasmonic nanostructures or photonic crystals, are rapidly emerging research areas for stretchable sensors. Despite the wide applications of various techniques to achieve strain-responsive structural colors, important factors in the feasibility of strain sensors-such as their sensing mechanism, stability, and reproducibility-have not yet been explored. Here, we introduce a stretchable, diffractive, color-based wireless strain sensor that can measure strain using the entire visible spectrum, based on an array of cone-shaped nanostructures on the surface of an elastomeric substrate. By stretching or compressing the substrate, the diffractive color can be tuned according to the changing grating pitch. Using the proposed method, we designed three types of strain-sensing modes large-deformation (maximum 100%) tensile strain, biaxial 2D strain, and shear strain (maximum 78%). The strain sensors were fabricated, and applicability to strain-sensing was evaluated.Materials with layered crystal structures and high in-plane anisotropy, such as black phosphorus, present unique properties and thus promise for applications in electronic and photonic devices. Recently, the layered structures of GeS2 and GeSe2 were utilized for high-performance polarization-sensitive photodetection in the short wavelength region due to their high in-plane optical anisotropy and wide band gap. The highly complex, low-symmetric (monoclinic) crystal structures are at the origin of the high in-plane optical anisotropy, but the structural nature of the corresponding nanostructures remains to be fully understood. Here, we present an atomic-scale characterization of monoclinic GeS2 nanostructures and quantify the in-plane structural anisotropy at the sub-angstrom level in real space by Cs-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy. We elucidate the origin of this high in-plane anisotropy in terms of ordered and disordered arrangement of [GeS4] tetrahedra in GeS2 monolayers, through density functional theory (DFT) calculations and orbital-based bonding analyses. We also demonstrate high in-plane mechanical, electronic, and optical anisotropies in monolayer GeS2 and envision phase transitions under uniaxial strain that could potentially be exploited for nonvolatile memory applications.The room-temperature liquid anode is a feasible method for building dendrite-free alkali-metal-based batteries. The Na-K phase diagram shows a eutectic point as low as 260.53 K with a long liquid range below 298 K with the molar fraction of potassium ranging from 30.48 to 84.99%. However, the NaK alloy exhibits a very high surface tension preventing it from wetting the current collector surface. Herein, a novel homogeneous dual solid-liquid composite in which the liquid alloy is fixed by the solid Na15Sn4 phase and perfectly stuffed into the grid of the mesh has been designed and fabricated. Based on the liquid range of the NaK alloy, the Na-K-Sn mixture possesses a theoretical specific capacity of 768 mAh g-1. selleck chemical The symmetric cells of the Na-K-Sn@mesh electrodes cycled at 2.0 mA cm-2 with 1.0 mAh cm-2 showed little fluctuations with the stable overpotential of ∼200 mV for 550 h, and the full cell coupled with Na3V2(PO4)3 showed an initial discharge capacity of 103 mAh g-1 at 2 C with a retention of 90% after 800 cycles. When the high-loading Na3V2(PO4)3 electrode is applied in the full cell, a stable cycling life is still maintained with a good capacity retention of 86% over 190 cycles (2.7 mAh cm-2) and 91% over 60 cycles (5.2 mAh cm-2).Robust membrane hydrophobicity is crucial in membrane distillation (MD) to produce clean water, yet challenged by wetting phenomenon. We herein proposed a robust super-hydrophobization process, making use of a carbon nanotube (CNT) intermediate layer over commercial hydrophobic membrane by indirect grafting the low surface energy material1H,1H,2H,2H-Perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (FAS) denoted as PVDF-CNT-FAS, in systematic comparison with direct grafting FAS on alkalinized PVDF denoted as PVDF-OH-FAS. Super-hydrophobicity with water contact angle of 180º was easily achieved from initial hydrophilic interface for both two resultant membranes. Interestingly, the existence of a CNT intermediate layer significantly maintained the stable hydrophobicity in various harsh conditions and improved mechanical properties, at an expense of ca. 20% smaller pore size and extended membrane thickness than PVDF-OH-FAS. In the MD experiment, the PVDF-CNT-FAS exhibited no vapor flux sacrifice, giving constant flux with the control and doubled that for PVDF-OH-FAS. A mass-heat transfer modeling suggested no significant heat loss but facilitated vapor flux with the CNT layer, unlike the impeded transfer for the counterpart. A superior wetting resistance against 0.4 mM SDS further confirmed the benefit of constructing the CNT intermediate layer, presumably because of its excellent slippery property. This study demonstrates the important role of the CNT intermediate layer towards robust super-hydrophobic membrane, suggesting the interest of applying the functional nano-material for controllable interface design.
Website: https://www.selleckchem.com/products/mln2480.html