Controlling Injection Barriers for Ambipolar 2D Semiconductors via Quasi-van der Waals Contacts.

Barriers that charge carriers experience while injecting into channels play a crucial role on determining the device properties of van der Waals semiconductors (vdWS). Among various strategies to control these barriers, inserting a graphene layer underneath bulk metal may be a promising choice, which is still lacking experimental verification. Here, it is demonstrated that graphene/metal hybrid structures can form quasi-van der Waals contacts (q-vdWC) to ambipolar vdWS, combining the advantages of individual metal and graphene contacts together.

Correction: Improving the inhibitory effect of CXCR4 peptide antagonist in tumor metastasis with an acetylated PAMAM dendrimer.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/C8RA08526A.].

A new nanowire-based lithium hexaoxotungstate anode for lithium-ion batteries.

This study reports one dimensional lithium hexaoxotungstate (LiWO), with a diameter in the range of 200-500 nm, as a novel anode material for lithium-ion batteries. The electrochemical performance of lithium hexaoxotungstate was investigated and a discharge capacity of 705 mA h g was achieved after 50 cycles, along with an excellent rate capability. The 1D morphology of the material is believed to provide excellent transport properties, resulting in a high rate capability.

A ternary SnSSe alloy for flexible broadband photodetectors.

Layered two-dimensional (2D) materials often display unique functionalities for flexible 2D optoelectronic device applications involving natural flexibility and tunable bandgap by bandgap engineering. Composition manipulation by alloying of these 2D materials represents an effective way in fulfilling bandgap engineering, which is particularly true for SnS Se alloys showing a continuous bandgap modulation from 2.1 eV for SnS to 1.

Amplitude response of conical multiwalled carbon nanotube probes for atomic force microscopy.

Carbon nanotubes are considered as great candidates for atomic force microscopy (AFM) probes because of their high aspect ratio and outstanding mechanical properties. In this work, we report that a conical AFM probe can be fabricated with arc discharge prepared multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with an individual MWCNT at the apex by dielectrophoresis. The amplitude-displacement curve of the conical MWCNT probe demonstrates that this structure can remain stable until the force exerted on it increases to 14.

Improving the inhibitory effect of CXCR4 peptide antagonist in tumor metastasis with an acetylated PAMAM dendrimer.

The metastasis of breast cancer is one of the main factors resulting in the high fatality of patients. Although many antagonists have been developed to inhibit the metastasis of breast cancer, their practical application has been limited because of the poor solubility of many chemotherapeutic drugs in the physiological environment. Herein, a complex of E5 peptide antagonist and acetylated PAMAM G5 (P) has been constructed to enhance the solubility of the peptide antagonist.

Engineering the interface in mechanically responsive graphene-based films.

Due to their extraordinary mechanical properties, nanocarbon materials ( carbon nanotube and graphene) are attracting great interests in the field of nanocomposites. One unique feature in nanocarbon-based nanocomposites is their intrinsically rich interface, allowing them to adapt the microstructures in response to external loading and, in turn, to stiffen themselves. This mechanical behavior, called responsive stiffening, was usually observed in biological materials such as bones and muscles.

Flexible and Electrically Tunable Plasmons in Graphene-Mica Heterostructures.

Flexible plasmonic devices with electrical tunability are of great interest for diverse applications, such as flexible metamaterials, waveguide transformation optics, and wearable sensors. However, the traditional flexible metal-polymer plasmonic structures suffer from a lack of electrical tunability. Here the first flexible, electrically tunable, and strain-independent plasmons based on graphene-mica heterostructures are experimentally demonstrated.

Uncovering the rupture mechanism of carbon nanotube filled -1,4-polybutadiene molecular dynamics simulation.

In this work, by employing molecular dynamics simulations in a united atomistic resolution, we explored the rupture mechanism of carbon nanotube (CNT) filled -1,4-polybutadiene (PB) nanocomposites. We observed that the rupture resistance capability increases with the interfacial interaction between PB and CNTs, as well as the loading of CNTs, attributed to the enhanced chain orientation along the deformed direction to sustain the external force, particularly those near voids. The number of voids is quantified as a function of the strain, exhibiting a non-monotonic behavior because of the coalescence of small voids into larger ones at high strain.

Heteroatom tri-doped porous carbon derived from waste biomass as Pt-free counter electrode in dye-sensitized solar cells.

Strategies for environmentally friendly reutilization of waste biomass are highly desirable nowadays. Meanwhile, seeking Pt-free electrocatalysts for triiodide reduction with both high catalytic activity and low cost is critical for the development of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). In the study, heteroatom tri-doped porous carbons (TPCs) were prepared carbonization of a typical food waste (fish waste) and explored as a counter electrode (CE) in a DSC.

Nanomicelle-Assisted Targeted Ocular Delivery with Enhanced Antiinflammatory Efficacy In Vivo.

Ocular inflammations are common diseases that may lead to serious vision-threatening obstacles. Eye drops for antiinflammation therapy need to be administered multiple times daily at a high dosage due to the rapid precorneal removal and low bioavailability of drugs. To overcome these problems, a cRGD-functionalized DSPE-PEG nanomicelle (DSPE-PEG-cRGD) encapsulated with flurbiprofen is proposed.

Catalytic Effects in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries: Promoted Sulfur Transformation and Reduced Shuttle Effect.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery has emerged as one of the most promising next-generation energy-storage systems. However, the shuttle effect greatly reduces the battery cycle life and sulfur utilization, which is great deterrent to its practical use. This paper reviews the tremendous efforts that are made to find a remedy for this problem, mostly through physical or chemical confinement of the lithium polysulfides (LiPSs).

Reducing the actuation threshold by incorporating a nonliquid crystal chain into a liquid crystal elastomer.

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are important smart materials that can undergo reversible deformation in response to liquid crystal (LC) phase transitions. A low threshold temperature for LC phase transition is advantageous because the LCE material can be more conveniently actuated by the applied stimulus. In this work, we investigated the effect of a nonliquid crystal chain on the reduction of threshold temperature of the LC phase transition by linking a nonliquid crystal side chain, 4-methoxyphenyl-1-hexenyloxy (MOCH), to the network backbone of a classical polysiloxane-based side-chain nematic LCE.

Cu(OH)PO/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol under infrared light irradiation.

Sparked by the growing environmental crises, photocatalytic degradation of chlorophenols with inexhaustible solar energy is expected to be converted into actual applications. Here, we report the preparation of the nanocomposite of Cu(OH)PO and reduced graphene oxide (Cu(OH)PO/rGO) through a one-step hydrothermal method and examined its infrared-light photocatalytic activity in the degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP). As evidenced by the absorption spectra and the degradation of 2,4-DCP, Cu(OH)PO/rGO exhibited enhanced infrared light-driven photocatalytic activity compared to pure Cu(OH)PO and was very stable even after repeated cycling.

Examining the effect of ions and proteins on the heat dissipation of iron oxide nanocrystals.

In this paper, the effect and contribution of physiological components like ions and proteins under an applied alternating magnetic field (AMF) towards heat dissipation of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) are discussed. Our results have shown that under an applied AMF, magnetic hyperthermia efficiency could be significantly enhanced if SPIONs were suspended in 1× phosphate buffered saline (PBS) compared to a suspension in de-ionized (DI) water. However, no heat enhancement was found when SPIONs were suspended in blood which is an amalgamation of physiological ions and proteins.

(BEDT-TTF)Cu(HCOO): An Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Conducting Magnet.

A dual-functional organic-inorganic hybrid (BEDT-TTF)Cu(HCOO) () (BEDT-TTF=bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene) was obtained through the electrochemical oxidation of neutral BEDT-TTF in the presence of an ammonium salt of the one-dimensional copper-formate framework [(CH)NH]Cu(HCOO) in a CHCl-CHOH solution. Compound  was composed of organic donor BEDT-TTF⋅ in a θ-phase arrangement and Jahn-Teller distorted (4,4) grid anion sheets [Cu(HCOO)] with 1/2. We identified the material as a semiconductor with values of =10 S cm.

(BEDT-TTF)Cu(HCOO): An Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Conducting Magnet.

10.1002/open.201700041.

A Novel Pan-Genome Reverse Vaccinology Approach Employing a Negative-Selection Strategy for Screening Surface-Exposed Antigens against .

Reverse vaccinology (RV) has been widely used for screening of surface-exposed proteins (PSEs) of important pathogens, including outer membrane proteins (OMPs), and extracellular proteins (ECPs) as potential vaccine candidates. In this study, we applied a novel RV negative strategy and a pan-genome analysis for screening of PSEs from 17 strains covering 11 predominately epidemic serovars and 17 multilocus typing (MLST) sequence types (STs) worldwide. Our results showed, for instance, out of a total of 633 predicted PSEs in strain 56601, 92.

Periodic Organic-Inorganic Halide Perovskite Microplatelet Arrays on Silicon Substrates for Room-Temperature Lasing.

Organic-inorganic metal halide perovskites have recently demonstrated outstanding efficiencies in photovoltaics as well as highly promising performances for a wide range of optoelectronic applications such as lasing, light emission, optical detectors, and even for radiation detection. Key to the realization of functional perovskite micro/nanosystems on the ubiquitous silicon optoelectronics platform is through sophisticated lithography. Despite the rapid progress made in halide perovskite lasing, direct lithographic patterning of perovskite films to form optical cavities on conventional substrates remains extremely challenging.

Advances in Perovskite Solar Cells.

Organolead halide perovskite materials possess a combination of remarkable optoelectronic properties, such as steep optical absorption edge and high absorption coefficients, long charge carrier diffusion lengths and lifetimes. Taken together with the ability for low temperature preparation, also from solution, perovskite-based devices, especially photovoltaic (PV) cells have been studied intensively, with remarkable progress in performance, over the past few years. The combination of high efficiency, low cost and additional (non-PV) applications provides great potential for commercialization.

Tribotronic Enhanced Photoresponsivity of a MoS Phototransistor.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS) has attracted a great attention as an excellent 2D material for future optoelectronic devices. Here, a novel MoS tribotronic phototransistor is developed by a conjunction of a MoS phototransistor and a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) in sliding mode. When an external friction layer produces a relative sliding on the device, the induced positive charges on the back gate of the MoS phototransistor act as a "gate" to increase the channel conductivity as the traditional back gate voltage does.

Catalytic Degradation of Benzene over Nanocatalysts containing Cerium and Manganese.

A Ce-Mn composite oxide possessing a rod-like morphology (with a fixed molar ratio of Ce/Mn=3:7) was synthesized through a hydrothermal method. Mn ions were doped into a CeO framework to replace Ce ions, thereby increasing the concentration of oxygen vacancies. The formation energies of O vacancies for the Ce-Mn composite oxide were calculated by applying density functional theory (DFT).

Understanding the Impact of Hierarchical Nanostructure in Ternary Organic Solar Cells.

Ternary organic solar cells (OSCs), which blend two donors and fullerene derivatives with different absorption ranges, are a promising potential strategy for high-power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). In this study, inverted ternary OSCs are fabricated by blending a highly crystalline small molecule BDT-3T-CNCOO in a low band gap polymer PBDTTT-C-T:PCBM. As the small molecule is introduced, the overall PCEs increase from 7.

Linked-Acceptor Type Conjugated Polymer for High Performance Organic Photovoltaics with an Open-Circuit Voltage Exceeding 1 V.

A linked-acceptor type conjugated polymer is designed and sythesized based on 4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2-:4,5-]dithiophene (BDTT) and linked-thieno[3,4-]pyrrole-4,6-dione (LTPD). This polymer uses alkyl-substituted thiophene as a bridge. The PBDTT-LTPD includes two TPD units in one repeating unit, which can enhance acceptor density in the polymer backbone and lower the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level.

Structural basis and functions of abscisic acid receptors PYLs.

Abscisic acid (ABA) plays a key role in many developmental processes and responses to adaptive stresses in plants. Recently, a new family of nucleocytoplasmic PYR/PYL/RCAR (PYLs) has been identified as bona fide ABA receptors. PYLs together with protein phosphatases type-2C (PP2Cs), Snf1 (Sucrose-non-fermentation 1)-related kinases subfamily 2 (SnRK2s) and downstream substrates constitute the core ABA signaling network.