Nanostructure and Photovoltaic Potential of Plasmonic Nanofibrous Active Layers.

Nanofibrous active layers offer hierarchical control over molecular structure, and the size and distribution of electron donor:acceptor domains, beyond conventional organic photovoltaic architectures. This structure is created by forming donor pathways via electrospinning nanofibers of semiconducting polymer, then infiltrating with an electron acceptor. Electrospinning induces chain and crystallite alignment, resulting in enhanced light-harvesting and charge transport.

Effect of Pt Nanoparticle Morphology on the Aerobic Oxidation of Ethylene Glycol to Glycolic Acid in Water.

Pt nanoparticles (diameter <3 nm), generated by metal vapor synthesis and supported on a high surface area carbon, were used to catalyze the aerobic oxidation of ethylene glycol to glycolic acid (GA) in water under neutral and basic reaction conditions. Controlled heat treatment of the catalyst under a nitrogen atmosphere brought about the formation of a morphologically well-defined catalyst. A combination of atomic resolution electron microscopy, CO stripping voltammetry, and XPS analyses conducted on as-synthesized and heat-treated catalysts demonstrated the crucial role of the nanoparticles' morphology on the stabilization of catalytically highly active Pt-OH surface species, which were key species for the Pt-catalyzed oxidation of the alcohol to the carbonyl functionality.

Design of N-doped C60-σ-B-doped C60 photodetector based on resonant tunneling diode using DFT and NEGF method.

Context: Photodetectors utilizing donor/acceptor (D/A) molecules have the capacity to detect light through molecular interactions between a donor and an acceptor molecule. These devices leverage electronic or optical changes within molecules when exposed to light, resulting in observable modifications. The unique properties of photodetectors with D/A molecules make them valuable tools in various fields, including molecular electronics.

Controlling nanocluster growth through nanoconfinement: the effect of the number and nature of metal-organic framework functionalities.

Controlled nanocluster growth nanoconfinement is an attractive approach as it allows for geometry control and potential surface-chemistry modification simultaneously. However, it is still not a straight-forward method and much of its success depends on the nature and possibly concentration of functionalities on the cavity walls that surround the clusters. To independently probe the effect of the nature and number of functional groups on the controlled Pd nanocluster growth within the pores of the metal-organic frameworks, Pd-laden UiO-66 analogues with mono- and bi-functionalised linkers of amino and methyl groups were successfully prepared and studied in a combined experimental-computational approach.

A tunable narrow single-mode bandpass filter using graphene nanoribbons for THz applications.

This paper presents a tunable, single-mode narrowband optical filter designed for terahertz applications utilizing graphene nanoribbons. To attain optimal conditions, the filter was devised in three steps. It is composed of two input and output waveguides and a T-shaped resonator with nanoscale dimensions.

The interaction of breastfeeding and genetic factors on childhood obesity.

Childhood obesity represents a pressing global public health concern due to its widespread prevalence and its close connection to early-life exposure to risk factors. The onset of obesity is contingent upon the interplay of genetic composition, lifestyle choices, and environmental as well as nutritional elements encountered during both fetal development and early childhood. This paper critically examines research discoveries in this area and concisely outlines the influence of breastfeeding on genetic predispositions associated with childhood obesity.

Experimental and theoretical evidence for unprecedented strong interactions of gold atoms with boron on boron/sulfur-doped carbon surfaces.

The 16e square-planar bis-thiolato-Au(iii) complexes [Au(1,2-dicarba--dodecarborane-1,2-dithiolato)][NBu] (Au-1) and [Au(4-methyl-1,2-benzenedithiolato)][NBu] (Au-2) have been synthesized and fully characterized. Au-1 and Au-2 were encapsulated in the symmetrical triblock copolymer poloxamer (Pluronic®) P123 containing blocks of poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(propylene oxide), giving micelles AuMs-1 and AuMs-2. High electron flux in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) was used to generate single gold atoms and gold nanocrystals on B/S-doped graphitic surfaces, or S-doped amorphous carbon surfaces from AuMs-1 and AuMs-2, respectively.

A single molecule diode based on gold electrodes and benzene molecule: conductivity and coupling analysis.

Context: In this paper, we simulate a single-molecule diode to calculate the effective coupling and investigate the conductivity, as well as the effect of the electric field on these two parameters. First, we obtain the molecule states and energies at 0 V. The next step is to calculate the electrode/molecule coupling using the obtained electrode and molecule Hamiltonian.

A single-mode tunable plasmonic sensor based on an 8-shaped resonator for cancer cell detection.

In this paper, a novel 8-shaped resonator coupled to metal-insulator-metal waveguides is used for designing plasmonic filters and sensors. The resonator supports two resonance modes, which result in peaks in the transmission spectrum of the structure. A Q-factor of 247.

Hybridization of surface plasmons and photonic crystal resonators for high-sensitivity and high-resolution sensing applications.

In this paper, an optical refractive index (RI) sensor based on a hybrid plasmonic-photonic crystal (P-PhC) is designed. In the sensor's structure, some metallic rods are embedded in a rod-type photonic crystal (PhC) structure. Numerical simulations are performed based on the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method.

Misplaced Urinary Catheter in the Ectopic Ureter in a Female With Previously Undiagnosed Duplex Ureter: A Rare Case.

Unintentional Foley catheter placement into a ureter is an extremely rare and life-threatening complication that can be easily prevented by early diagnosis. A misplaced Foley catheter should be suspected in the presence of abdominal pain and oliguria after bladder catheterization, and congenital variation of the urinary tract can complicate this procedure. We reported the third case of misplaced insertion of a Foley catheter into the upper moiety ureter of a duplex kidney in a 19-year-old post-partum woman.

Stabilized tilted-octahedra halide perovskites inhibit local formation of performance-limiting phases.

Efforts to stabilize photoactive formamidinium (FA)–based halide perovskites for perovskite photovoltaics have focused on the growth of cubic formamidinium lead iodide (α-FAPbI) phases by empirically alloying with cesium, methylammonium (MA) cations, or both. We show that such stabilized FA-rich perovskites are noncubic and exhibit ~2° octahedral tilting at room temperature. This tilting, resolvable only with the use of local nanostructure characterization techniques, imparts phase stability by frustrating transitions from photoactive to hexagonal phases.

Analysing neutron radiation damage in YBa Cu O high-temperature superconductor tapes.

Superconducting windings will be necessary in future fusion reactors to generate the strong magnetic fields needed to confine the plasma, and these superconducting materials will inevitably be exposed to neutron damage. It is known that this exposure results in the creation of isolated damage cascades, but the presence of these defects alone is not sufficient to explain the degradation of macroscopic superconducting properties and a quantitative method is needed to assess the subtle lattice damage in between the clusters. We have studied REBCO-coated conductors irradiated with neutrons to a cumulative dose of 3.

Design, Identification, and Evolution of a Surface Ruthenium(II/III) Single Site for CO Activation.

Ru compounds are widely used in catalysis, photocatalysis, and medical applications. They are usually obtained in a reductive environment as molecular O can oxidize Ru to Ru and Ru . Here we report the design, identification and evolution of an air-stable surface [bipy-Ru (CO) Cl ] site that is covalently mounted onto a polyphenylene framework.

Adsorption and activation of molecular oxygen over atomic copper(I/II) site on ceria.

Supported atomic metal sites have discrete molecular orbitals. Precise control over the energies of these sites is key to achieving novel reaction pathways with superior selectivity. Here, we achieve selective oxygen (O) activation by utilising a framework of cerium (Ce) cations to reduce the energy of 3d orbitals of isolated copper (Cu) sites.

Competitive Nucleation Mechanism for CsPbBr Perovskite Nanoplatelet Growth.

We analyze nucleation-controlled nanocrystal growth in a solution containing surface-binding molecular ligands, which can also nucleate compact layers on the crystal surfaces. We show that, if the critical nucleus size for ligands is larger and the nucleation barrier is lower than those for crystal atoms, the ligands nucleate faster than the atoms on relatively wide crystal facets but much slower, if at all, on narrow facets. Such competitive nucleation of ligands and atoms results in ligands covering predominantly wider facets, thus excluding them from the growth process, and acts as a selection mechanism for the growth of crystals with narrower facets, the so-called nanoplatelets.

Manipulating the Optical Properties of Carbon Dots by Fine-Tuning their Structural Features.

As a new class of sustainable carbon material, "carbon dots" is an umbrella term covering many types of materials. Herein, a broad range of techniques was used to develop the understanding of hydrothermally synthesized carbon dots, and it is shown how fine-tuning the structural features by simple reduction/oxidation reactions can drastically affect their excited-state properties. Structural and spectroscopic studies found that photoluminescence originates from direct excitation of localized fluorophores involving oxygen functional groups, whereas excitation at graphene-like features leads to ultrafast phonon-assisted relaxation and largely quenches the fluorescent quantum yields.

Anisotropic Fracture Dynamics Due to Local Lattice Distortions.

A brittle material under loading fails by the nucleation and propagation of a sharp crack. In monatomic crystals, such as silicon, the lattice geometries front to the crack-tip changes the way of propagation even with the same cleavage surface. In general, however, crystals have multiple kinds of atoms and how the deformation of each atom affects the failure is still elusive.

Generation of maghemite nanocrystals from iron-sulfur centres.

Iron oxide nano-crystals 0.1-1.1 μm in diameter were generated on sulfur-doped amorphous carbon surfaces by electron beam irradiation of the novel 13e- high-spin complex [Fe(4-methyl-1,2-benzenedithiolate)2][NHEt3] encapsulated in a triblock copolymer.

Nanoscale Stoichiometric Analysis of a High-Temperature Superconductor by Atom Probe Tomography.

The functional properties of the high-temperature superconductor Y1Ba2Cu3O7-δ (Y-123) are closely correlated to the exact stoichiometry and oxygen content. Exceeding the critical value of 1 oxygen vacancy for every five unit cells (δ>0.2, which translates to a 1.

Characterization of Ordering in A-Site Deficient Perovskite CaLaTiO Using STEM/EELS.

The vacancy ordering behavior of an A-site deficient perovskite system, CaLaTiO, was studied using atomic resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) in conjunction with electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), with the aim of determining the role of A-site composition changes. At low La content (x = 0.2), adopting Pbnm symmetry, there was no indication of long-range ordering.

Thermodynamically destabilized hydride formation in "bulk" Mg-AlTi multilayers for hydrogen storage.

Thermodynamic destabilization of MgH2 formation through interfacial interactions in free-standing Mg-AlTi multilayers of overall "bulk" (0.5 μm) dimensions with a hydrogen capacity of up to 5.5 wt% is demonstrated.

Palladium nanoparticles formed on titanium silicate ETS-10.

We report that surface templated and supported palladium nanoparticles self assemble on ETS-10 type molecular sieve surfaces by simple exchange and activation procedures in the absence of a reductant. This procedure is similar to the one previously reported for silver nanoparticle self assembly on ETS-10. We observed a bimodal distribution with particle sizes ranging from 2-5 and 15-30 nm.

Thermally stable silver nanoparticles formed on a zeolite surface show multiple crystal twinning.

Surface templated and supported silver nanoparticles form on silver-exchanged mineral chabazite upon thermal reduction. The method generates high concentrations of thermostable, uniform silver nanoparticulates that may have applications as catalysts. Properties of such nanoparticles are expected to vary with particle size, composition, metallic character, defect type and density.

The influence of SWCNT-metallic nanoparticle mixtures on the desorption properties of milled MgH2 powders.

We have examined the effect of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT)-metallic nanoparticle additions on the hydrogen desorption behavior of MgH(2) after high-energy co-milling. The metallic nanoparticles were the catalysts used for the SWCNT growth. The co-milling consisted of high-energy planetary milling in an inert argon environment of the hydride powder mixed with the SWCNTs.