Graphene Flake Self-Assembly Enhancement via Stretchable Platforms and External Mechanical Stimuli.

While the green production and application of 2D functional nanomaterials, such as graphene flakes, in films for stretchable and wearable technologies is a promising platform for advanced technologies, there are still challenges involved in the processing of the deposited material to improve properties such as electrical conductivity. In applications such as wearable biomedical and flexible energy devices, the widely used flexible and stretchable substrate materials are incompatible with high-temperature processing traditionally employed to improve the electrical properties, which necessitates alternative manufacturing approaches and new steps for enhancing the film functionality. We hypothesize that a mechanical stimulus, in the form of substrate straining, may provide such a low-energy approach for modifying deposited film properties through increased flake packing and reorientation.

On the production of Mn by deuteron irradiation on natural chromium and its radionuclidic purity.

The positron emitter Mn is used for the Positron Emission Tomography - PET imaging.In this work we investigate the nuclear reactions for production of Mn and Mn induced by deuteron beams on natural chromium targets at energies up to E = 28 MeV using the stacked-foils activation technique. We calculate the thick target yields for Mn and for the radionuclidic impurity Mn, and we compare the radionuclidic purity of Mn with that achievable in proton activation of Cr.