Facile preparation of superhydrophobic nanorod surfaces through ion-beam irradiation

Obtaining superhydrophobic surfaces for their application in electronics and flexible wearable devices remains a significant challenge. Most previously reported methods for obtaining superhydrophobic surfaces involve complex and expensive preparation techniques and thus cannot be used for practical applications. Ion-beam irradiation is a simple and promising method for fabricating superhydrophobic nanostructures on large areas at a low cost. Ion-beam irradiation using argon and oxygen gases was used to prepare silica nanorod structures on glass substrates. This study is not just a modification of the surface of nanoparticles, but a change in nanoparticle shape. The nanorods were subsequently treated with perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane to obtain superhydrophobicity. The surface of the silica nanorods exhibited a static water contact angle of 153°, indicating superhydrophobicity. The combination of rough structures of silica nanorods and low surface energy resulted in superhydrophobicity. The surface properties were evaluated in detail using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The proposed method is facile, inexpensive, and can be used for the large-scale production of nanorod structures for potential industrial applications.     

Multiplasmid DNA in agarose gel electrophoresis: Suitable dye and temperature is essential for prominent profiles

Nucleic acids dye Goldview is widely used in agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE). However, in this study, a sample of multiplasmid DNA (multi-pDNA) stained with Goldview analyzed by AGE showed its instability at low temperature. Three types of DNA samples were analyzed, including linear DNA (ladder), single-plasmid DNA (single-pDNA), and multi-pDNA, electrophoretic conditions were optimized by adjusting the dye, the buffer, and the temperature (1–50°C). The results showed that the light intensity of Gelred is 2.2-times higher than that of Goldview in staining multi-pDNA. Compared with the single-pDNA and the linear DNA, the multi-pDNA stained with Goldview was greatly affected by temperature. This short communication indicated that Gelred is a highly applicable dye for analyzing multiplasmid samples. The degree and the way of binding of Goldview to multi-pDNA are greatly affected by temperature.     

Phosphoric-Acid Retention in High-Temperature Proton-Exchange Membranes

Great efforts have been conducted to develop high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) due to its features of enhanced electrocatalyst reactivity, simplified hydrothermal management system and high CO tolerance of catalysts, and remarkable progress has been achieved. However, the easy leaching of phosphoric acid (PA) from the membranes during operation limits its commercial scale-up in complicated environments. This concept here mainly focuses on the recent developments for mitigation of PA loss in PEMs. The probable mechanisms of PA loss are proposed. The approaches to improve PA retention for example via introduction of phosphonic acid by covalent bond, using ion-pairs interaction and siphoning effect, and blending with inorganic nanoparticles are described in detail. Among these strategies, the siphoning effect from the intrinsic microporous PEMs is the most efficient and enables the cell to operate flexibly within a broad temperature range. Therefore, this concept may provide new ideas for the scientists to retain PA, to improve the cell performance and expand the potential applications of PA doped PEMs at elevated humidity and wide temperature range.     

Selective annulation of benzamides with internal alkynes catalyzed by an electron-deficient rhodium catalyst

An electron-deficient [Cp^ERhCl₂]₂ catalyzed annulation of N-pentafluorophenylbenzamides with internal alkynes was successfully established under mild reaction conditions, with the assistance of Lewis acid silver salt. Particularly, electron-deficient benzamide substrates were smoothly transformed into the desired products in this catalytic system. The catalytic system showed a broad tolerance for different substituents on the aromatic rings or aryl, alkyl-substituted alkynes.     

A review on electronically conducting polymers for lithium-sulfur battery and lithium-selenium battery: Progress and prospects

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries and lithium-selenium (Li-Se) batteries,as environmental protection energy storage systems with outstanding theoretical specific ...     

Reduction of the squeal noise from an automotive water pump

Nonlinear Dynamics - This paper presents a method to reduce the squeal noise generated by an automotive water pump. The noise and vibration of the water pump were analyzed through experiments, from...     

La3OCl[AsO3]2: Ein Lanthan‐Oxidchlorid‐Oxoarsenat(III) mit “lone‐pair”‐Kanalstruktur

La₃OCl[AsO₃]₂: A Lanthanum Oxide Chloride Oxoarsenate(III) with a “Lone‐Pair” Channel Structure La₃OCl[AsO₃]₂ was prepared by the solid‐state reaction between La₂O₃ and As₂O₃ using LaCl₃ and CsCl as fluxing agents in evacuated silica ampoules at 850 °C. The colourless crystals with pillar‐shaped habit crystallize tetragonally (a = 1299.96(9), c = 558.37(5) pm, c/a = 0.430) in the space group P4₂/mnm (no. 136) with four formula units per unit cell. The crystal structure contains two crystallographically different La³⁺ cations. (La1)³⁺ is coordinated by six oxygen atoms and two chloride anions in the shape of a bicapped trigonal prism (CN = 8), whereas (La2)³⁺ carries eight oxygen atoms and one Cl^? anion arranged in the shape of tricapped trigonal prism (CN = 9). The isolated pyramidal [AsO₃]^3? anions (d(As–O) = 175–179 pm) consist of three oxygen atoms (O2 and two O3), which surround the As³⁺ cations together with the free, non‐binding electron pair (lone pair) Ψ¹‐tetrahedrally (?(O–As–O) = 95°, 3×). One of the three crystallographically independent oxygen atoms (O1), however, is exclusively coordinated by four (La2)³⁺ cations in the shape of a real tetrahedron (d(O–La) = 236 pm, 4×). These [(O1)(La2)₄]¹⁰⁺ tetrahedra form endless chains in the direction of the c axis through trans‐edge condensation. Empty channels, constituted by the lone‐pair electrons of the Cl^? anions and the As³⁺ cations in the Ψ¹‐tetrahedral oxoarsenate(III) anions [AsO₃]^3?, run parallel to [001] as well.     

Two new acylated flavonol glycosides from Vicia amurensis

Two new acylated flavonol glycosides, named amurenosides A and B, together with quercetin 3-(2,6-di-O-alpha-rhamnopyranosyl-beta-galactopyranoside), have been isolated from the whole plant of Vicia amurensis. Their structures were elucidated as quercetin 3-O-alpha-L-(3-feruloylrhamnopyranosyl)(1-->6)-[alpha-L-rhamnopyra nosyl(1-->2)]-beta-D-galactopyranoside and quercetin 3-O-alpha-L-(2-feruloylrhamnopyranosyl)(1-->6)-[alpha-L-rhamnopyra nosyl(1-->2)]-beta-D-galactopyranoside on the basis of various NMR techniques, FAB mass spectrometry and chemical reactions.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of microscopic structure of ultra strong shock waves in dense helium

Hydrodynamic properties and structure of strong shock waves in classical dense helium are simulated using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics methods. The shock speed in the simulation reaches 100 km/s and the Mach number is over 250, which are close to the parameters of shock waves in the implosion process of inertial confinement fusion. The simulations show that the high-Mach-number shock waves in dense media have notable differences from weak shock waves or those in dilute gases. These results will provide useful information on the implosion process, especially the structure of strong shock wave front, which remains an open question in hydrodynamic simulations.     

一种新型的变像管用复合聚焦-偏转系统

 介绍了一种新型的多极式偏转器——8瓣状多极偏转器,它可通过将一旋转对称电极均匀开槽切割为８片而成。通过对圆周上各电极电位分布作傅里叶分析,获得了在其内部产生近乎均匀横向偏转场所需要的电极电位设置规律。由于其结构上的旋转对称性以及Laplace方程解的调和性,当在此8瓣偏转器各电极上同时叠加一聚焦透镜所需电位时,它所产生的场中多极场分量为16极场或者更多极场而不影响近轴区的聚焦效果,因而其能与常用的圆筒形电极相结合而形成复合聚焦-偏转系统。其具有的聚焦偏转特性也通过相关的定性分析得以验证。同时,这样结构上的优化也为变像管的小型化设计提供了可能性。