Nanosized κ-Carbide and B2 Boosting Strength Without Sacrificing Ductility in a Low-Density Fe-32Mn-11Al Steel.

High-performance lightweight materials are urgently needed because of energy savings and emission reduction. Here, we design a new steel with a low density of 6.41 g/cm, which is a 20% weight reduction compared to the conventional steel.

Manipulating the Generation of Photonic Moiré Lattices Using Plasmonic Metasurfaces.

The generation of moiré lattices by superimposing two identical sublattices at a specific twist angle has garnered significant attention owing to its potential applications, ranging from two-dimensional materials to manipulating light propagation. While macroscale moiré lattices have been widely studied, further developments in manipulating moiré lattices at the subwavelength scale would be crucial for miniaturizing and integrating platforms. Here, we propose a plasmonic metasurface design consisting of rotated nanoslits arranged within + ' round apertures for generating focused moiré lattices.

Tunable rheological properties of high internal phase emulsions stabilized by phosphorylated walnut protein/pectin complexes: The effects of pH conditions, mass ratios, and concentrations.

The current study reported high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) stabilized by phosphorylated walnut protein/pectin complexes (PWPI/Pec) and elucidated how their rheological properties were modulated by pH conditions, mass ratios, and concentrations of the complexes. At pH 3.0, the HIPEs stabilized by PWPI/Pec exhibited smaller oil droplet sizes, as well as higher storage modulus (G') and flow stress, in comparison to those stabilized by the complexes formed at pH 4.

Modulating the texture of heat-set gels of phosphorylated walnut protein isolates through Glucono-δ-lactone acidification.

The gelation of walnut protein isolates has not been extensively studied, mainly due to their inherent poor dispersity. This study investigated the gelation of alkaline-extracted walnut protein isolates (AWPI) and phosphorylated walnut protein isolates (PWPI) induced by heat treatment with glucono-δ-lactone (GDL) acidification, focusing on the impact of GDL concentrations on microstructure, rheology, and texture of the resulting gels. The PWPI gel exhibited lower hardness but a smoother structure than the AWPI gel.

Phosphorylated walnut protein/chitosan nanocomplexes as promising carriers for encapsulation of caffeic acid phenethyl ester.

Background: Walnut proteins display poor solubility and dispersity under acidic pH conditions, which limits their application in acidic beverages and foods. This study aimed to fabricate stable nanocomplexes between phosphorylated walnut protein (PWPI) and chitosan (CS) in an acidic pH and to investigate the encapsulation capacity of the complexes.

Results: The PWPI/CS nanocomplexes prepared at a mass ratio of 2:1 showed small Z-average sizes (approximately 285 nm at pH 5.

Time-Resolved Four-Channel Jones Matrix Measurement of Birefringent Materials Using an Ultrafast Laser.

A method for ultrafast time-resolved four-channel Jones matrix measurement of birefringent materials using an ultrafast laser is investigated. This facilitated the acquisition of a four-channel angular multiplexing hologram in a single shot. The Jones matrix information of a birefringent sample was retrieved from the spatial spectrum of a hologram.

The effects of conjugation of walnut protein isolate with polyphenols on protein solubility, antioxidant activity, and emulsifying properties.

Alkaline-extracted walnut protein isolate (AWPI) shows poor solubility in aqueous solutions, resulting in relatively low emulsion capacity. This work investigated the influence of ellagic acid (EA) or epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) conjugation on the solubility and emulsifying properties of AWPI. The increase in polyphenol content and decrease in free amino and thiol groups of walnut proteins confirmed successful conjugation.

Metasurfaces for Amplitude-Tunable Superposition of Plasmonic Orbital Angular Momentum States.

The superposition of orbital angular momentum (OAM) in a surface plasmon polariton (SPP) field has attracted much attention in recent years for its potential applications in classical physics problems and quantum communications. The flexible adjustment of the amplitudes of two OAM states can provide more freedom for the manipulation of superposed states. Here, we propose a type of plasmonic metasurface consisting of segmented spiral-shaped nanoslits that not only can generate the superposition of two OAM states with arbitrary topological charges (TCs), but also can independently modulate their relative amplitudes in a flexible manner.

Arbitrary superposition of plasmonic orbital angular momentum states with nanostructures.

A kind of plasmonic nanostructure is proposed that can generate the arbitrary superposition of orbital angular momentum (OAM) states in surface plasmons (SPs), which is achieved by combining the segmented spirals with nanoslit pairs. The structures can independently modulate both the phase and amplitude of SP waves, and thus enable the superposition of two OAM states with arbitrary topological charges (TCs) as well as free control of their relative amplitudes. Superposed states distributed over the entire Bloch sphere and hybrid superposed states with different TCs were constructed and experimentally demonstrated.

Phosphorylated walnut protein isolate as a nanocarrier for enhanced water solubility and stability of curcumin.

Background: The low solubility and poor dispersion of alkaline-extracted walnut protein isolate (AWPI) limit its application as a protein-based carrier for the delivery of poorly soluble nutraceuticals, including curcumin. This work investigated the physicochemical characteristics of phosphorylated walnut protein isolate (PWPI) extracted using sodium tripolyphosphate (STP) and evaluated its encapsulation ability.

Results: The results of phosphorus determination, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy confirmed the phosphorylation of the extracted PWPI.

Effect of Zr Microalloying on the Microstructures and Strengthening Mechanism of As-Cast Al-Fe-Zr Alloys.

The microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-0.35Fe alloys with a series of different zirconium (Zr) additions from 0.1 to 0.

Flexible generation of higher-order Poincaré beams with high efficiency by manipulating the two eigenstates of polarized optical vortices.

Vector beams contain complex polarization structures and they are inherently non-separable in the polarization and spatial degrees of freedom. The spatially variant polarizations of vector beams have enabled many important applications in a variety of fields ranging from classical to quantum physics. In this study, we designed and realized a setup based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer for achieving the vector beams at arbitrary points of higher-order Poincaré sphere, through manipulating two eigenstates in the Mach-Zehnder interferometer system with the combined spiral phase plate.

Nanoscale optical lattices of arbitrary orders manipulated by plasmonic metasurfaces combining geometrical and dynamic phases.

Metasurfaces can be used to manipulate light at the subwavelength scale, and miniaturized photonic devices can be designed to generate subwavelength lattices, which are important for exploring phenomena in novel fields of physics such as topology. Analogous to multi-beam interference, plasmonic metasurfaces composed of nano-slit pairs on truncated spiral segments were designed and fabricated to realize lattice wave fields at a subwavelength resolution. The interference of the analogous beams was controlled by combining the geometric and dynamic phases, and lattices of different morphologies were realized by adjusting the orientation and position of the nano-slits simultaneously.

Generation of a plasmonic radially polarized vector beam with linearly polarized illumination.

Polarization state of a wave field can be manipulated through the plasmonic metasurface consisting of orthogonal nanoslit pairs; the output polarization angle is independent of the incident linearly polarized light and is highly dependent on the orientations of nanoslit pairs. We combine the Archimedes spiral with the nanoslit pairs to compensate for the Pancharatnam-Berry (PB) phase induced by the orientation of nanoslits, as well as achieve the radially polarized vector beam (RPVB) under the illuminations of different linearly polarized lights. Experiments are performed to successfully realize the RPVB, and the results are in excellent agreement with the numerical simulations.

Optical lattices and optical vortex arrays in clustered speckles.

Clustered speckle, optical lattices, and their optical vortex array are subjects of interest in optical wave manipulation. In this study, disordered optical lattices and vortex arrays with different unit structures were found in the clustered speckles generated by a circularly-distributed multi-pinhole scattering screen when it was illuminated by coherent light. These structures included hexagonal lattices, kagome lattices, and honeycomb lattices.

Radially polarized plasmonic vector vortex generated by a metasurface spiral in gold film.

Vector vortices with spatially varying polarization are interesting phenomena and have motivated many recent studies. A vector vortex in the wavefield of a surface plasmon polariton (SPP) may be extended to the sub-wavelength scale, which would be more significant. However, the formation of vector vortices requires the polarization state to possess components parallel to the surface of metal films.