TiO2 and SnO2@TiO2 hollow spheres assembled from anatase TiO2 nanosheets with enhanced lithium storage properties

TiO(2) and SnO(2)@TiO(2) hollow spheres assembled from anatase TiO(2) nanosheets with exposed (001) high-energy facets are constructed via a templating approach, and the as-prepared samples exhibit enhanced lithium storage properties.     

Engineering nonspherical hollow structures with complex interiors by template-engaged redox etching

Despite the significant advancement in making hollow structures, one unsolved challenge in the field is how to engineer hollow structures with specific shapes, tunable compositions, and desirable interior structures. In particular, top-down engineering the interiors inside preformed hollow structures is still a daunting task. In this work, we demonstrate a facile approach for the preparation of a variety of uniform hollow structures, including Cu(2)O@Fe(OH)(x) nanorattles and Fe(OH)(x) cages with various shapes and dimensions by template-engaged redox etching of shape-controlled Cu(2)O crystals. The composition can be readily modulated at different structural levels to generate other interesting structures such as Cu(2)O@Fe(2)O(3) and Cu@Fe(3)O(4) rattles, as well as Fe(2)O(3) and Fe(3)O(4) cages. More remarkably, this strategy enables top-down engineering the interiors of hollow structures as demonstrated by the fabrication of double-walled nanorattles and nanoboxes, and even box-in-box structures. In addition, this approach is also applied to form Au and MnO(x) based hollow structures.     

Polycrystalline silicon thin films prepared by Ni silicide induced crystallization and the dopant effects on the crystallization

Intrinsic and doped polycrystalline silicon thin films were grown by the Ni silicide seeds induced crystallization. The Ni first reacted to Si forming a silicide seeds, then these seeds act as nuclei, from which the grains start to grow laterally. Compared with traditional Ni induced lateral crystallization, polycrystalline silicon thin film was grown by Ni silicide induced crystallization with low Ni contamination and large grain sizes. It can be found that the Ni silicide induced crystallization rate is accelerated by p-type doping and is decelerated by n-type doping. And the slightly and strongly phosphorous-doped polycrystalline silicon can be obtained with different grain shapes. Also, the sheet resistance of doped polycrystalline silicon decreases with the increasing of the doping atoms. A reasonable explanation is presented for the dopant effects on the growth rate, microstructure and electronic properties of the samples.     

In‐situ stress suppression of hydrogenated a‐CNx film prepared via Ar gas introduction

Evolution of hydrogenated amorphous carbon nitride films was investigated with an introduction of Ar gas in the deposition. The results showed that compressive stress of the films decreased versus an increase of Ar flow rate. Especially, at an Ar flow rate of 5 sccm the film exhibited lower compressive stress, higher hardness and lower root‐mean‐square (rms) roughness than the films deposited without Ar gas introduction. Structural analysis showed that the films with higher hardness, low compressive stress and lower rms roughness had relatively high sp² and nitrogen content. It was attributed to the assistance of Ar plasma, which can cause N atom to enter graphite ring easily and form curved graphite microstructure. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fabrication of Heterostructured Fe2TiO5–TiO2 Nanocages with Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Performance for Solar Energy Conversion

Photocatalysts with well-designed compositions and structures are desirable for achieving highly efficient solar-to-chemical energy conversion. Heterostructured semiconductor photocatalysts with advanced hollow structures possess beneficial features for promoting the activity towards photocatalytic reactions. Here we develop a facile synthetic strategy for the fabrication of Fe₂TiO₅–TiO₂ nanocages (NCs) as anode materials in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting cells. A hydrothermal reaction is performed to transform MIL-125(Ti) nanodisks (NDs) to Ti–Fe–O NCs, which are further converted to Fe₂TiO₅–TiO₂ NCs through a post annealing process. Owing to the compositional and structural advantages, the heterostructured Fe₂TiO₅–TiO₂ NCs show enhanced performance for PEC water oxidation compared with TiO₂ NDs, Fe₂TiO₅ nanoparticles (NPs) and Fe₂TiO₅–TiO₂ NPs.     

Reflection–absorption infrared spectroscopy investigation of the crystallization kinetics of poly(ethylene terephthalate) ultrathin films

Reflection–absorption infrared spectroscopy was used to study the crystallization behavior of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) ultrathin films. The crystallinity of ultrathin films was estimated by the fraction of trans conformers of PET. The isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of ultrathin films with different thicknesses were investigated. The thinner PET film showed slower kinetics during isothermal crystallization than the thicker film. Moreover, the final crystallinity of films with various thicknesses were reduced with decreasing thickness. An Avrami equation was used to fit the acquired results. The Avrami exponents decreased with the film thickness. As for the nonisothermal crystallization, the cold‐crystallization starting temperature shifted to a lower temperature as the film thickness increased. The influence of the substrate on the crystallization kinetics of the films was also studied. The half‐crystallization times and final crystallinities of ultrathin films adsorbed onto a self‐assembled‐monolayer‐treated surface and an untreated substrate were clearly different, although their thickness dependence was similar. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 4440–4447, 2004     

Luminescence functionalization of SBA-15 by YVO4:Eu3+ as a novel drug delivery system

Luminescence functionalization of the ordered mesoporous SBA-15 silica was realized by depositing a YVO4:Eu3+ phosphor layer on its surface via the Pechini sol-gel process, resulting in the formation of the YVO4:Eu3+@SBA-15 composite material. This material, which combines the mesoporous structure of SBA-15 and the strong red luminescence property of YVO4:Eu3+, can be used as a novel functional drug delivery system. The structure, morphology, porosity, and optical properties of the materials were well characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, N2 adsorption, and photoluminescence spectra. As expected, the pore volume, surface area, and pore size of SBA-15 decrease in sequence after deposition of the YVO4:Eu3+ layer and the adsorption of ibuprofen (IBU, drug). The IBU-loaded YVO4:Eu3+@SBA-15 system still shows the red emission of Eu3+ (617 nm, 5D0-7F2) under UV irradiation and the controlled drug release property. Additionally, the emission intensity of Eu3+ increases with an increase in the cumulative released amount of IBU in the system, making the extent of drug release easily identifiable, trackable, and monitorable by the change of luminescence. The system has great potential in the drug delivery and disease therapy fields.     

de Sitter空间中具有常数量曲率的完备类空子流形的间隙现象

设Mn是de Sitter空间Snp p(c)中具有常数量曲率R(≤c)的完备类空子流形.得到了Mn关于其第二基本形式模长平方‖h‖2的间隙性定理,如果n(c-R)≤‖h‖2≤2√n-1c,那么,或者‖h‖2=n(c-R)且Mn是全脐点子流形,或者‖h‖2=2√n-1c且Mn是全脐的或是双曲柱面Sn-1(c-tanh2r)×H1(c-coth2r).