Slight asymmetry induces significant distortion of soot volume fraction measurements in counterflow diffusion flames with diffuse back-illumination imaging.

Counterflow diffusion flame is a favorable platform for fundamental investigation of soot kinetics. A diffuse back-illumination imaging technique for measuring soot volume fractions in these flames was rigorously demonstrated here. It was noticed that the technique is extremely sensitive to slight asymmetry of the flame.

Hairy silica nanosphere supported metal nanoparticles for reductive degradation of dye pollutants.

Hairy materials can act as a sort of scaffold for the fabrication of functional hybrid composites. In this work, silica nanospheres modified with covalently grafted poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) brushes, namely, "hairy" silica spheres, were utilized as a support for the anchorage of metal nanoparticles (MNPs), thus resulting in the hierarchical SiO@P4VP/MNP structure. In this triple-phase boundary heteronanostructure, the SiO-supported MNPs are well stabilized by the P4VP matrix to avoid aggregation and leaching.