A Novel Embryo Phenotype Associated With Interspecific Hybrid Weakness in Rice Is Controlled by the MADS-Domain Transcription Factor .

A novel hybrid weakness gene, , associated with a dark tip embryo (DTE) trait, was observed in CR6078, an introgression line derived from a cross between the spp. "Hwayeong" (HY) and the wild relative . CR6078 seeds exhibit protruding embryos and flowers have altered inner floral organs.

Room-Temperature Synthesis of Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Coated VO Nanoparticles for Enhanced Durability and Flexible Temperature-Responsive Near-Infrared Modulator Application.

Vanadium dioxide is one kind of desirable infrared modulator for sensors because of its remarkable temperature-responsive infrared modulation ability via autogeneic metal-insulator transition. However, the detriments of poor chemical stability and narrow scope of extensive-researched application (e.g.

Scalable Preparation of Photochromic Composite Foils with Excellent Reversibility for Light Printing.

Photochromic inks for repeatable light-printed media have attracted increasing attention owing to the fact that they may be widely applied to reduce the consumption of papers and plastics and conserve the environment. Therefore, it is of practical significance to develop convenient photochromic inks with a low cost and on a large scale. In this study, a simple one-step hydrothermal route was used to prepare tungsten trioxide (WO ) nanoparticles, which were further used to make photochromic inks and transparent photochromic films.

Organic-inorganic hybrid optical foils with strong visible reflection, excellent near infrared-shielding ability and high transparency.

Research on functional flexible films has recently been attracting widespread attention especially with regards to foils, which can be designed artificially on the basis of the practical requirements. In this work, a foil with high visible reflection and a strong near infrared shielding efficiency was prepared by a simple wet chemical method. In the process of making this kind of optical foil, emulsion polymerization was first introduced to synthesize polymer opals, which were further compressed between two pieces of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foil under polymer melting temperature to obtain a photonic crystal film with a strong reflection in the visible region to block blue rays.

Long Straczekite δ-Ca V O ⋅H O Nanorods and Derived β-Ca V O Nanorods as Novel Host Materials for Lithium Storage with Excellent Cycling Stability.

Nanorods of δ-Ca V O ⋅H O, a straczekite group mineral with an open double-layered structure, have been successfully fabricated by a facile hydrothermal method and can be transformed into the tunnel β geometry (β-Ca V O ) through a vacuum annealing treatment. The generated β-Ca V O still preserves the nanorod construction of δ-Ca V O ⋅H O without substantial sintering and degradation of the nanostructure. As cathode materials, both calcium vanadium bronzes exhibit high reversible capacity, good rate capability, as well as superior cyclability.

High Performance and Enhanced Durability of Thermochromic Films Using VO@ZnO Core-Shell Nanoparticles.

For VO-based thermochromic smart windows, high luminous transmittance (T) and solar regulation efficiency (ΔT) are usually pursued as the most critical issues, which have been discussed in numerous researches. However, environmental durability, which has rarely been considered, is also so vital for practical application because it determines lifetime and cycle times of smart windows. In this paper, we report novel VO@ZnO core-shell nanoparticles with ultrahigh durability as well as improved thermochromic performance.

Selective and Tunable Near-Infrared and Visible Light Transmittance of MoO Nanocomposites with Different Crystallinity.

In this Communication, we report MoO nanocomposites in which the near-infrared and visible light transmittance can be selectively modulated through the crystallinity. The MoO nanocomposites were fabricated by a hydrothermal method, and their optical properties were characterized by UV-Vis spectrometer. The obtained results proved the possibility to tune the nanocomposite's optical properties in the UV/Visible spectral region: crystalline MoO mainly regulates the near-infrared range (800-2600 nm), and amorphous MoO mainly changes the visible range from 350 nm to 800 nm and MoO , with semi-crystalline structures mainly modulating around 800-1000 nm.

Enhanced photochromic modulation efficiency: a novel plasmonic molybdenum oxide hybrid.

Plasmonic materials have drawn emerging interest with their high charge carrier density and solar harvesting ability, resulting in tunable enhanced absorption and scattering resonances. Herein, a novel plasmonic MoO hybrid comprising orthorhombic MoO nanorod and hexagonal MoO nanograin was obtained using a simple hydrothermal method. An excellent photochromic property with up to 40% solar modulation efficiency at 600-1000 nm was achieved, which was mainly attributed to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption at around 900 nm and the polaron absorption at 650 nm with a synergistic effect.

Atomic scale observation of a defect-mediated first-order phase transition in VO(A).

The study of first-order structural transformations has attracted extensive attention due to their significant scientific and industrial importance. However, it remains challenging to exactly determine the nucleation sites at the very beginning of the transformation. Here, we report the atomic scale real-time observation of a unique defect-mediated reversible phase transition between the low temperature phase (LTP) and the high temperature phase (HTP) of VO(A).

One step spray-coated TiO electron-transport layers for decent perovskite solar cells on large and flexible substrates.

Spray-coating as a facile and quantitative method was introduced to prepare thin and continuous TiO compact layers on different substrates for perovskite solar cells. The as-prepared film is highly transparent and smooth, which is of significance in perovskite solar cells to decrease incident light loss and facilitate the film cast and electric contact. The compact TiO layer shows excellent performance when coated with perovskite and assembled into a device.

Composite Film of Vanadium Dioxide Nanoparticles and Ionic Liquid-Nickel-Chlorine Complexes with Excellent Visible Thermochromic Performance.

Vanadium dioxide (VO), as a typical thermochromic material used in smart windows, is always limited by its weaker solar regulation efficiency (ΔT) and lower luminous transmittance (T). Except for common approaches such as doping, coating, and special structure, compositing is another effective method. The macroscopic thermochromic (from colorless to blue) ionic liquid-nickel-chlorine (IL-Ni-Cl) complexes are selected in this paper to be combined with VO nanoparticles forming a composite film.

Vanadium Dioxide Nanoparticle-based Thermochromic Smart Coating: High Luminous Transmittance, Excellent Solar Regulation Efficiency, and Near Room Temperature Phase Transition.

An annealing-assisted preparation method of well-crystallized VxW1-xO2(M)@SiO2 core-shell nanoparticles for VO2-based thermochromic smart coatings (VTSC) is presented. The additional annealing process reduces the defect density of the initial hydrothermally prepared VxW1-xO2(M) nanoparticles and enhances their crystallinity so that the thermochromic film based on VxW1-xO2(M)@SiO2 nanoparticles can exhibit outstanding thermochromic performance with balanced solar regulation efficiency (ΔTsol) of 17.3%, luminous transmittance (Tlum) up to 52.

Preparation and characterization of VO₂(M)-SnO₂ thermochromic films for application as energy-saving smart coatings.

Novel VO2(M)/SnO2 heterostructured nanorods are prepared by combining the conventional hydrothermal synthesis method and post annealing process. The results reveal that the nanosized SnO2 particles are not only successfully grown on the surface of the VO2 nanorods but also uniformly distribute on VO2 without aggregation. The existence of the SnO2 nanoparticles inhibits the aggregation during the annealing process and widens the band gap of the VO2 crystals from 0.

Functional fiber mats with tunable diffuse reflectance composed of electrospun VO2/PVP composite fibers.

Thermochromic VO2 nanoparticles have been dispersed into polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) fibers by electrospinning of a VO2-PVP blend solution. The structure and optical properties of the obtained composite fiber mat were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometry, and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The fiber mat revealed two diffuse reflectance states in infrared spectral region at temperatures under and above the phase transition temperature of VO2 and its IR reflectance is smaller in high temperature.

QTL mapping reveals a tight linkage between QTLs for grain weight and panicle spikelet number in rice.

Background: A number of QTL studies reported that one genomic region was associated with several traits, indicating linkage and/or pleiotropic effects. The question of pleiotropy versus tight linkage in these studies should be solved using a large-size population combined with high-density mapping. For example, if each of the 2 parents has a TGW-increasing or SPP-increasing QTL that is tightly linked, complementary combination of the 2 beneficial QTLs by using molecular markers could produce higher yields compared to the 2 parents.

Surface plasmon resonance induced excellent solar control for VO₂@SiO₂ nanorods-based thermochromic foils.

Transition-metal oxide nanocrystals are novel candidates for being used as the hosts of localized surface plasmon resonance because they exhibit fascinating properties arising from the unique characteristics of their outer-d valence electrons. VO₂(M) nanocrystal is well-known due to its reversible metal-insulator transition (MIT) temperature near room temperature (∼68 °C) corresponding to the appearance/disappearance of localized surface plasmon resonance across the MIT. In this study, a microemulsion-based method was introduced to synthesize VO₂(M)@SiO₂ nanoparticles which were applied to prepare VO₂-based thermochromic foils owing to a strong and tunable surface plasmon resonance in the metallic state.

Preparation and characterization of self-supporting thermochromic films composed of VO2(M)@SiO2 Nanofibers.

Nanofibers of VO2(A) with the diameter and length averagely at 100 nm and 10-20 μm were prepared via a facile one-step hydrothermal method by reducing NH4VO3 with 1,3-propylene glycol in an acidic solution. The obtained VO2(A) was coated by SiO2 to form VO2(A)@SiO2 core-shell nanocomposites, which were then transformed into VO2(M)@SiO2 by annealing under nitrogen atmosphere. The resulted composites maintained the original fibrous morphology, particularly with a large amount of pores emerging inside the fiber due to the volume shrinkage during the phase transition, which may improve its thermal insulation ability in real applications.

Modification of Mott phase transition characteristics in VO2@TiO2 core/shell nanostructures by misfit-strained heteroepitaxy.

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) is a key material for thermochromic smart windows that can respond to environmental temperature and modulate near-infrared irradiation by changing from a transparent state at low temperature to a more reflective state at high temperature, while maintaining visible transmittance. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that the Mott phase transition characteristics in VO2 nanoparticles can be remarkably modified by misfit strains occurring at the epitaxial interface between VO2 and the anatase TiO2 of VO2/TiO2 core-shell particles. The heteroepitaxial growth of the as-synthesized particles followed an unprecedented orientation relationship, and an epitaxial growth mechanism is proposed to explain this behavior.

Core-shell VO2@TiO2 nanorods that combine thermochromic and photocatalytic properties for application as energy-saving smart coatings.

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) is a Mott phase transition compound that can be applied as a thermochromic smart material for energy saving and comfort, and titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a well-known photocatalyst for self-cleaning coatings. In this paper, we report a VO2@TiO2 core-shell structure, in which the VO2 nanorod core exhibits a remarkable modulation ability for solar infrared light, and the TiO2 anatase shell exhibits significant photocatalytic degradation of organic dye. In addition, the TiO2 overcoating not only increased the luminous transmittance of VO2 based on an antireflection effect, but also modified the intrinsic colour of VO2 films from yellow to light blue.

Structural characterization of magnesium-based compounds Mg9Si5 and Mg4Si3Al (superconductor) synthesized under high pressure and high temperature conditions.

Two kinds of magnesium-based compounds Mg9Si5 and Mg4Si3Al have been prepared under high pressure and high temperature (HPHT) conditions of 5 GPa at 900-1100 °C. Single crystal study revealed that Mg9Si5 crystallizes in space group P6(3) (No. 173) with the lattice parameters a = 12.

High pressure synthesis and superconductivity of the ternary compounds Mg(Mg(1-x)Al(x))Si with the anticotunnite structure.

Ternary compounds Mg(Mg(1-x)Al(x))Si (0.3 < x < 0.8) have been prepared under high pressure and high temperature conditions of 5 GPa at 800-1100 °C.