Publications by authors named "G Prando"

Engineering coordinated rotational motion in porous architectures enables the fabrication of molecular machines in solids. A flexible two-fold interpenetrated pillared Metal-Organic Framework precisely organizes fast mobile elements such as bicyclopentane (BCP) (10  Hz regime at 85 K), two distinct pyridyl rotors and E-azo group involved in pedal-like motion. Reciprocal sliding of the two sub-networks, switched by chemical stimuli, modulated the sizes of the channels and finally the overall dynamical machinery.

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Fluorinated Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), comprising a wheel-shaped ligand with geminal rotating fluorine atoms, produced benchmark mobility of correlated dipolar rotors at 2 K, with practically null activation energy (E =17 cal mol ). H T NMR revealed multiple relaxation phenomena due to the exchange among correlated dipole-rotor configurations. Synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction at 4 K, Density Functional Theory, Molecular Dynamics and phonon calculations showed the fluid landscape and pointed out a cascade mechanism converting dipole configurations into each other.

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers have discovered a new type of quantum coherence involving muons and quadrupolar nuclei, highlighting its potential as a quantum sensor for local charge environments.
  • This phenomenon was observed in vanadium intermetallic compounds, which are important for superconductivity.
  • The study shows that muons can effectively sense structural and charge-related properties in materials, even in scenarios where magnetic interactions are not present.*
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Advanced van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure devices rely on the incorporation of high quality dielectric materials which need to possess a low defect density as well as being atomically smooth and uniform. In this work we explore the use of talc dielectrics as a potentially clean alternative substrate to hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) for few-layer transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) transistors and excitonic TMDC monolayers. We find that talc dielectric transistors show small hysteresis which does not depend strongly on sweep rate and show negligible leakage current for our studied dielectric thicknesses.

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Achieving sophisticated juxtaposition of geared molecular rotors with negligible energy-requirements in solids enables fast yet controllable and correlated rotary motion to construct switches and motors. Our endeavor was to realize multiple rotors operating in a MOF architecture capable of supporting fast motional regimes, even at extremely cold temperatures. Two distinct ligands, 4,4'-bipyridine (bipy) and bicyclo[1.

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