Three types of silica materials with different morphology, specifically SiO2 hollow microspheres, mesoporous silica, and silica aerogel were tested as potential precursors for synthesis of silicon nano-and meso-struct...
详细信息
We explore spatially localized solitonic configurations of a director field, generated using optical realignment and laser-induced heating, in frustrated chiral nematic liquid crystals confined between substrates with...
详细信息
We explore spatially localized solitonic configurations of a director field, generated using optical realignment and laser-induced heating, in frustrated chiral nematic liquid crystals confined between substrates with perpendicular surface anchoring. We demonstrate that, in addition to recently studied torons and Hopf-fibration solitonic structures (hopfions), one can generate a host of other axially symmetric stable and metastable director field configurations where local twist is matched to the surface boundary conditions through introduction of point defects and loops of singular and nonsingular disclinations. The experimentally demonstrated structures include the so-called “baby-skyrmions” in the form of double twist cylinders oriented perpendicular to the confining substrates where their double twist field configuration is matched to the perpendicular boundary conditions by loops of twist disclinations. We also generate complex textures with arbitrarily large skyrmion numbers. A simple back-of-the-envelope theoretical analysis based on free energy considerations and the nonpolar nature of chiral nematics provides insights into the long-term stability and diversity of these inter-related solitonic field configurations, including different types of torons, cholestric-finger loops, two-dimensional skyrmions, and more complex structures comprised of torons, hopfions, and various disclination loops that are experimentally observed in a confinement-frustrated chiral nematic system.
Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of plasma-modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), including hydroxyl-MWCNTs (MWCNT-OH), carboxyl-MWCNTs (MWCNT-COOH) and pristine MWCNTs, with human ocular cells (e.g. retinal pi...
详细信息
Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of plasma-modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), including hydroxyl-MWCNTs (MWCNT-OH), carboxyl-MWCNTs (MWCNT-COOH) and pristine MWCNTs, with human ocular cells (e.g. retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells) have been studied in this work. The addition of MWCNT-based materials caused few change in cell morphology while the presence of MWCNTs was observed inside the cells using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), suggesting possibility of MWCNTs passing through the cell membranes without damaging cells. Cell viability measurements suggested that MWCNT-COOH exhibited better biocompatibility than other MWCNT materials studied in this work. Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) release level was found to be less than 30% with all types of MWCNT-based materials. Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) generation was visible but not severe with addition of nanotubes. A smaller oxidative stress level was obtained from MWCNT-COOH. Cell apoptosis was found to be less than 1.5% with addition of MWCNT-based materials. Particularly MWCNTs were found to be swallowed by cells and released by cells after 72 h without damaging cells, which may be considered as a potential vector for ocular genetic diseases. Plasma modification of MWCNTs particularly with-COOH was found to be an efficient way to improve ocular biocompatibility of MWCNTs, suggesting a fast and useful way to modify MWCNTs for applications in areas such as biology and biomedicine.
We report the direct synthesis of ZnC0204 and ZnO/ZnC0204 submicron rod arrays grown on Ni foil current collectors via an ammonia-evaporation-induced method by controlling the ratio of Zn to Co. These three-dimension...
详细信息
We report the direct synthesis of ZnC0204 and ZnO/ZnC0204 submicron rod arrays grown on Ni foil current collectors via an ammonia-evaporation-induced method by controlling the ratio of Zn to Co. These three-dimensional (3D) hierar- chical self-supported nanostructures are composed of one-dimensional (1D) ZnCo204 rods and two-dimensional (2D) ZnO nanosheet bands perpendicular to the axis of the each ZnCo204 rod. We carefully deal with the heteroepitaxial growth mechanisms of hexagonal ZnO nanosheets from a crystallographic point of view. Furthermore, we demonstrate the ability of these high-surface-area ZnO/ZnCo204 heterostructured rods to enable improved electrolyte permeability and Li ion transfer, thereby enhancing their Li storage capability (-900 mA.h.g-1 at a rate of 45 mA.h.g-1) for Li ion battery electrodes.
Tapioca is economical crop grown in Thailand and continues to be one of the major sources of ***,tapioca starch has been widely used in industrial applications,however the native form of starch has limited the *** sci...
详细信息
Tapioca is economical crop grown in Thailand and continues to be one of the major sources of ***,tapioca starch has been widely used in industrial applications,however the native form of starch has limited the *** scientists try to modify the properties of starch for increasing the stability of the granules,pastes to low pH,heat,and shear during the food *** modify the tapioca starch by plasma treatment under an argon *** degree of modification is determined by following water content in the starch *** tablet samples of native starch are also prepared and compared with the plasma treated *** plasma treatment,the starch tablets are stored under three different relative humilities(RH)including 11%,68%,and 78%RH,*** samples are characterized using FTIR spectroscopy associated with the degree of *** results show that the water molecules are engulfed into the starch structure in two ways,a tight bond and a weak absorption of water molecules which is represented at two wave number of 1630 cm^(-1) and 3272 cm^(-1),*** degree of cross-linking can be identified from the relative intensity of these two peaks with the C–O–H peak at 993 cm^(-1).The results show that the degree of cross-linking increase in the plasma treated *** degree of cross-linking of the treated starch with high relative humidity is less than that of the treated starch with low relative humidity.
We use both lyotropic liquid crystals composed of prolate micelles and thermotropic liquid crystals made of rod-like molecules to uniformly disperse and unidirectionally align relatively large gold nanorods and other ...
详细信息
We use both lyotropic liquid crystals composed of prolate micelles and thermotropic liquid crystals made of rod-like molecules to uniformly disperse and unidirectionally align relatively large gold nanorods and other complex-shaped nanoparticles at high concentrations. We show that some of these ensuing self-assembled orientationally ordered soft matter systems exhibit polarization-dependent plasmonic properties with strongly pronounced molar extinction exceeding that previously achieved in self-assembled composites. The long-range unidirectional alignment of gold nanorods is mediated mainly by anisotropic surface anchoring interactions at the surfaces of gold nanoparticles. Polarization-sensitive absorption, scattering, and extinction are used to characterize orientations of nanorods and other nanoparticles. The experimentally measured unique optical properties of these composites, which stem from the collective plasmonic effect of the gold nanorods with long-range order in a liquid crystal matrix, are reproduced in computer simulations. A simple phenomenological model based on anisotropic surface interaction explains the alignment of gold nanorods dispersed in liquid crystals and the physical underpinnings behind our observations.
Austenitic (FCC) high-Mn alloys are strong candidates for replacing current cryogenic materials used during the fabrication of liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanks, since they have comparable low temperature properties a...
详细信息
暂无评论