Highly Thermoelectric ZnO@MXene (TiCT) Composite Films Grown by Atomic Layer Deposition.

Due to its unique high conductivity and flexibility, the two-dimensional MXene material (TiCT) is expected to possess great potential in the thermoelectric field. However, the low thermoelectric performance from high thermal conductivity and a low Seebeck coefficient has limited its practical application. In this report, we demonstrate the uniform growth of ZnO layers on the laminar TiCT membrane by atomic layer deposition (ALD).

Electrical transport in amorphous nanofilms embedded with crystalline grains at low temperatures.

Amorphous and ferromagnetic Al-Ni nanofilms have been grown by the magnetron-sputtering method with some nanosized crystalline grains embedded therein. Resistivity is demonstrated to transit from a positive temperature coefficient to a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) with increasing the fraction of Ni atoms in the Al-Ni nanofilms. The lattice disorder is deduced to induce the Anderson localization of electrons and the formation of polarons so that the NTC of the resistivity is driven in the Al-Ni nanofilms, different from that in the elemental Al and Ni nanofilms.

The optical lens coupled X-ray in-line phase contrast imaging system for the characterization of low Z materials.

Due to the high spatial resolution and contrast, the optical lens coupled X-ray in-line phase contrast imaging system with the secondary optical magnification is more suitable for the characterization of the low Z materials. The influence of the source to object distance and the object to scintillator distance on the image resolution and contrast is studied experimentally. A phase correlation algorithm is used for the image mosaic of a serial of X-ray phase contrast images acquired with high resolution, the resulting resolution is less than 1.

Surface specific heats of metal nanocrystals at low temperatures.

In order to quantitatively explain the enhanced specific heat of metal nanocrystals measured from 4.2 K to 80 K, an analytical expression has been deduced to determine the surface specific heat in nanocrystals, which is proportional to T(2.5) at low temperatures.

Preparation and characterization of planar deuterium cryotargets.

Using a planar-cryotarget system with the cooling power provided by a Gifford-McMahon cryocooler, the deuterium vapor is condensed to form liquid in a cylinder target cell. The liquefaction processes of deuterium are examined by the Mach-Zehnder interference and infrared spectra. The infrared-absorption spectra of deuterium show a strong absorption peak around 3040 nm at 19 K.