Water-Induced Chiral Separation on a Au(111) Surface.

Facing the scientific question of the origin of chirality in life, water is considered to play a crucial role in driving many biologically relevant processes . Water has been demonstrated to be related to chiral generation, amplification, and inversion, while the underlying mechanism is still not fully understood. Real-space evidence at the single-molecule level is thus urgently required to understand the role of water molecules in biomolecular chirality related issues.

Development of Hot-Extruded Mg-RE-Zn Alloy Bar with High Mechanical Properties.

A new elevated-temperature high-strength Mg-4Er-2Y-3Zn-0.4Mn (wt %) alloy was developed by semi-continuous casting, solid solution treatment, and hot extrusion. W phase (Mg(Er,Y)Zn) with fcc structure, long period stacking ordered phases with 18R (Mg(Er,Y)Zn) and 14H (Mg(Er,Y)Zn) structures, and basal plane stacking faults (SFs) was formed in the as-cast alloy, mainly due to the alloy component of (Er + Y)/Zn = 1:1 and Er/Y = 1:1 (at %).