A Simple Electrochemical Route to Access Amorphous Co-Ni Hydroxide for Non-enzymatic Glucose Sensing.

Among the numerous transition metal hydroxide materials, cobalt- and nickel-based hydroxides have been extensively studied for their excellent electrochemical performances such as non-enzymatic electrochemical sensors. Binary cobalt-nickel hydroxide has received extensive attention for its exceptionally splendid electrochemical behaviors as a promising glucose sensor material. In this work, we report the synthesis of three-dimensional amorphous Co-Ni hydroxide nanostructures with homogeneous distribution of elements via a simple and chemically clean electrochemical deposition method.

A Novel TiZrHfMoNb High-Entropy Alloy for Solar Thermal Energy Storage.

An equiatomic TiZrHfMoNb high-entropy alloy (HEA) was developed as a solar thermal energy storage material due to its outstanding performance of hydrogen absorption. The TiZrHfMoNb alloy transforms from a body-centered cubic (BCC) structure to a face-centered cubic (FCC) structure during hydrogen absorption and can reversibly transform back to the BCC structure after hydrogen desorption. The theoretical calculations demonstrated that before hydrogenation, the BCC structure for the alloy has more stable energy than the FCC structure while the FCC structure is preferred after hydrogenation.

Control of the compositions and morphologies of uranium oxide nanocrystals in the solution phase: multi-monomer growth and self-catalysis.

The presence of mixed products and impurities, which always confuse researchers, are common during synthesizing nanomaterials. Even though many studies have been conducted with an objective to control the synthesis of nanomaterials, very few studies have investigated a mechanism to control the composition of nanomaterials. Various products include UO·HO, UO, UO, and UO were produced by simply adjusting the pH with ammonia.

Significant enhanced uranyl ions extraction efficiency with phosphoramidate-functionalized ionic liquids via synergistic effect of coordination and hydrogen bond.

The influence of the linking group between the phosphoryl and bridging moieties in phosphoryl-containing task-specific ionic liquids (TSILs) on the extraction of uranyl ions was experimentally and theoretically investigated. A novel phosphoramidate-based TSIL with an amine group as the linking moiety resulted in a higher uranyl ion extraction efficiency compared with that of other phosphoryl-based TSILs. A distribution ratio of 4999 ± 51 can be achieved for uranyl ions.

Physical justification for negative remanent magnetization in homogeneous nanoparticles.

The phenomenon of negative remanent magnetization (NRM) has been observed experimentally in a number of heterogeneous magnetic systems and has been considered anomalous. The existence of NRM in homogenous magnetic materials is still in debate, mainly due to the lack of compelling support from experimental data and a convincing theoretical explanation for its thermodynamic validation. Here we resolve the long-existing controversy by presenting experimental evidence and physical justification that NRM is real in a prototype homogeneous ferromagnetic nanoparticle, an europium sulfide nanoparticle.

Tuning the transmittance of colloidal solution by changing the orientation of Ag nanoplates in ferrofluid.

Ag nanoplates and Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticle-based ferrofluids were utilized to fabricate a magnetic field controlled optic switch. The changing of light transmittance (LT) is caused by the rotation of Ag nanoplates, whose long axis always follows the orientation of external magnetic field to minimize the potential energy. The sensitivity of switching was optimized by choosing Ag nanoplates with appropriate size and concentration.

The magnetic assembly of polymer colloids in a ferrofluid and its display applications.

Nonmagnetic polymer colloids have been assembled into colloidal photonic crystals in a ferrofluid by applying an external magnetic field based on the dipole-dipole interactions of "magnetic holes". The photonic crystal disassembles immediately when the magnetic field is removed. The mechanism of assembly can be explained by two simultaneous processes: phase separation and colloidal assembly.