First-order non-hysteretic phase transition: a pathway to enhanced magnetocaloric and giant magnetoresistance effects in a Gd-Al alloy.

Fascinating physical phenomena often occur near the phase transition points in materials. This study provides a comprehensive investigation into the structural and magnetic properties of a Gd-Al alloy using both experimental and theoretical methods. The results indicate that the Gd-Al alloy exhibits a distinct antiferromagnetic phase transition under a low magnetic field.

The CoNi@C/MoC i-MXene Derived from Novel (MoR)GaC (R = Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, and Lu) Nanolaminations for Electrochemical Application in Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution and Supercapacitance.

2D MoC i-MXene is highly promising for electrochemical applications. Here, a synthetic strategy is reported, enabling the uniform distribution of carbon-coated CoNi (CoNi@C) nanoparticles on the vacancy-ordered MoC i-MXene nanosheets, thereby fully exposing the active sites of CoNi@C. First, five novel Ga-containing (MoR)GaC (R = Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, and Lu) i-MAX phases are synthesized as the precursor and found to be crystallized into Cmcm structure, followed by hydrothermal etching and delamination.

Probing the Saltwater Immersion Effect on Buried Interfacial Structures between a Sealant and Adhesion Promoter at the Molecular Level.

In this research, we used sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy to investigate the buried interface of a thiol-epoxy model aerospace sealant in contact with a silane-based adhesion promoter (6111) following exposures to 3% saltwater at elevated temperatures and elevated temperatures alone. The results suggest that the saltwater caused a change at the interface between the adhesion promoter and sealant, while an elevated temperature of 60 °C itself did not affect the interfacial structure noticeably. Model hydrolyzed and nonhydrolyzed silanes were also used in the study to compare with the adhesion promoter 6111 to understand the interfacial behavior of main silane components in 6111 as well as their potential role in adhesion.

Rare-Earth (R) In-Plane Ordering in Novel (Mo, R, Nb)AlC Quinary o-MAX Nanolaminates and their 2D Derivatives.

Nanolamellar transition metal carbides are gaining increasing attentions because of the promising application in energy storage of their 2D derivatives. There are in-plane and out-of-plane atomic ordered occupations, which is thought to only be formed in separated systems due to totally different origins and crystallographic structure. In present work, starting from (Mo, Nb)AlC o-MAX phase where out-of-plane ordered occupation is experimentally and theoretically proved for Mo/Nb atoms, rare-earth elements (R = Y, Gd-Tm, Lu) are introduced, and the novel Mo RNbAlC (x = 1, 1.

In-Plane Chemical Ordering (MoR)AlB (R = Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, and Lu) i-MAB Phases and their Two-Dimensional Derivatives (MBene): Synthesis, Structure, Magnetic, and Supercapacitor Performance.

A family of hexagonal in-plane chemical ordering (MoR)AlB (R = Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, and Lu) i-MAB phases are synthesized with R-3m hexagonal structure. The i-MAB phases with R = Tb to Tm are considered to have a nonlinear ferromagnetic-like coupling magnetic ground state with gradually weakened magnetocrystalline anisotropy due to variant R-R distances and 4f electrons. Their 2D derivatives (2D-MBene) with rare-earth (R) atom vacancies are obtained by chemical etching.

Vanadium Oxides with Amorphous-Crystalline Heterointerface Network for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries.

Rechargeable aqueous Zn-VO batteries are attracting attention in large scale energy storage applications. Yet, the sluggish Zn diffusion kinetics and ambiguous structure-property relationship are always challenging to fulfil the great potential of the batteries. Here we electrodeposit vanadium oxide nanobelts (VO-E) with highly disordered structure.

Quantum transmission through the n-p-n heterojunction of massive 8-borophene.

We investigate the quantum transmission through the n-p-n heterojunction of massive 8-borophene. It is found that the Dirac mass of the electron interacts nontrivially with the anisotropy of the 8-borophene, leading to the occurrence of new transmission behaviors in this n-p-n heterojunction. Firstly, the effective energy range of nonzero transmission can be reduced but deviates from the mass amplitude, which induces the further controllability of the transmission property.

Isolation and enrichment of Ginkgo biloba extract by a continuous chromatography system.

In this study, an effective method was developed for the isolation and enrichment of Ginkgo biloba extract by continuous chromatography system. The adsorption and desorption ratio of flavonoids as main index, the best macroporous resin was screened out from six resins by static adsorption and desorption tests. At the same time the adsorption and desorption parameters were optimized by dynamic adsorption and desorption tests.

Solid-state nanopore based biomimetic voltage gated ion channels.

Voltage gating is essential to the computational ability of neurons. We show this effect can be mimicked in a solid-state nanopore by functionalizing the pore interior with a redox active molecule. We study the integration of an active biological molecule-a quinone-into a solid state nanopore, and its subsequent induced voltage gating.

Rapid Metal -free Macromolecular Coupling via in situ Nitrile Oxide-Activated Alkene Cycloaddition.

Nitrile oxide 1,3 dipolar cycloaddition is a simple and powerful coupling methodology. However, the self-dimerization of nitrile oxides has prevented the widespread use of this strategy for macromolecular coupling. By combining an in situ nitrile oxide generation with a highly reactive activated dipolarophile, we have overcome these obstacles and present a metal-free macromolecular coupling strategy for the modular synthesis of several ABA triblock copolymers.

Nd(2)Fe(14)B/FeCo anisotropic nanocomposite films with a large maximum energy product.

Anisotropic Nd(2) Fe(14) B/Fe(67) Co(33) nanocomposite thin films are successfully fabricated. The multilayer composite films comprise Nd-rich shell-enveloped Nd(2) Fe(14) B grains and a Fe(67) Co(33) phase. The strong (001) texture of the Nd(2) Fe(14) B grains and the presence of exchange-coupled Fe(67) Co(33) lead to a high remanence and the presence of the Nd-rich shell gives rise to a high coercivity.

High-hole-mobility field-effect transistors based on co-benzobisthiadiazole-quaterthiophene.

High-mobility organic thin film transistors based on a benzobisthiadiazole-containing polymer are presented together with their morphological and optical properties. A very tight packing pattern of "edge-on" orientated polymer chains is observed in their thin films after annealing, and the hole mobility of this polymer is up to 2.5 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) .

6,13-dibromopentacene [2,3:9,10]-bis(dicarboximide): a versatile building block for stable pentacene derivatives.

6,13-Dibromopentacene [2,3:9,10]-bis(dicarboximide) (1) was synthesized for the first time by using in situ generated benzo[1,2-c:4,5-c']difuran as a key intermediate. Compound 1 exhibits good photostability in comparison to other pentacene derivatives and it can be further functionalized by Pd-catalyzed coupling reactions to give a series of soluble and stable functional pentacenes.

X- and H-shape two dimensional conjugated oligomers with anthracene as the node.

X- and H-shape two-dimensional (2D) conjugated oligomers (X- and H-mers) and relevant model compounds have been synthesized through the introduction of different conjugated segments at the 9,10 and 2,6-positions of anthracene, and their properties were studied in detail. Comparing with the model compounds, the X- and H-mers are featured with broader absorption spectra and narrower energy bandgaps. Computational studies on the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) also indicate that these X- and H-mers are 2D conjugated.

The first soluble conjugated poly(2,6-anthrylene): synthesis and properties.

The first soluble conjugated poly(2,6-anthrylene) with 9,10-diphenyl-anthracene as the repeating unit is reported; photophysical studies reveal that this polymer represents a novel well-conjugated system.

Synthesis and characterization of soluble oligo (9,10-bisalkynylanthrylene)s.

[structure: see text] Soluble oligo(9,10-bialkynylanthrylene)s up to pentamers were synthesized by means of the Suzuki coupling reaction. A solution processed thin film field-effect transistor from pentamer OA-5b shows a charge carrier mobility of 2.95 x 10(-)(3) cm(2)/V x s.